* TARZAN NOT exonerated
* VRA Board, CEO set to tumble
* more chop chop

THE THREE-man committee headed by Mr. Aggrey Mensah, the former Director General of Ghana Telecom, has firmly recommended the removal of Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby to the President to promote industrial harmony, Chronicle can report today.

The Minister of Energy, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, has received the copy and has since conferred with the President on the committee’s report, it was learnt.

Sources close to the minister told the Chronicle in an interview yesterday that he did not say that the Chief Executive has been exonerated completely from every material allegation because there are other matters that are still being studied which are of a technical and financial nature.

The sources also confirmed Chronicle’s query on the over $50 million owed to CIE - the electricity company of Cote d’Ivoire - which sells power to Ghana, and explained that the ?970 projected loss is for fiscal year 2003 alone!

They would not give the figure but Chronicle first published the issue of the CIE debt two years ago. That was reportedly settled, and as Ghana buys more power and the Strategic Reserve Plant, procured by Wereko-Brobby, still fails to produce power, the level of indebtedness has since ballooned far in excess of the $60 million, about ?500 billion cedis, a legacy of over one and half trillion cedis, the legacy of the outgoing Chief Executive.

The Committee noted workers’ complaints that Wereko-Brobby had never run a big organization in his previous life to give him the experience to run a huge institution, like VRA.

Chronicle files show that Wereko-Brobby set up and ran a newspaper, which ended in disaster, ran a publishing company, Anansesem publications, which has very little to show.

And, in fact, he endured a successful court action instituted by Professor Kwesi Yankah with his Anansesem publications business; set up and drove a political party into oblivion and national scorn and an entertainment business, Lifeline, run by his late mistress, Ms. Brodie-Mends, also collapsed in a heap.

Chronicle is probing the social security contributions made by Tarzan for these businesses and their employees some of whom used to work for Chronicle, his tax records and how his private business and life may have impinged on the conduct of his businesses.

A letter to the President on VRA matters had noted that “the committee found that the Chief Executive Officer (Wereko-Brobby) did not follow laid down procurement procedures in taking the decision to rent the Strategic Plant.” – an issue that Chronicle has raised in many of its publications.

The letter, which is largely consistent with Chronicle analyses, quoted the Aggrey Mensah findings thus – That the VRA IS INCURRING UNNECCESARY SIGNIFICANT RENTAL COSTS OF ABOUT $10 MILLION AND COULD BE OBLIGATED TO MAKING PAYMENTS OF $1,375,000 A MONTH.

“The committee has recommended further investigation of the SRP to assign specific responsibility for financial losses to the VRA.”

In a sober language which still conveyed the meaning of large scale dismissal of the board, the Chronicle learnt that the Minister asked the Government to accept the recommendation of the Committee to reconstitute the Board of Directors due to their INABILITY to manage the long simmering industrial dispute and their inability to exercise appropriate oversight control over the actions of the CEO and the overall policy making.

The suggestion that big named men like Dr. Jones Ofori-Atta, whose son, Ken Ofori-Atta, is also involved in a massive scam involving billions of the taypayer’s money in the Obotan con job, could overindulge at tax payer’s expense has left many speechless at the betrayal of the President’s trust in the board. Jones appeared to have chopped with both hands and feet and one report has it that he even demanded and got a vehicle with a driver to carry him about.

Assignments that could be carried out by regular staff were passed on to Jones Ofori-Atta who promptly collected the relevant per diem. (see attached payments to Jones).

Also another invoice shows telephones for Jones alone, supplied to him by two separate companies, including the Chief Executive’s company Dawuro Communications, which now has a fleet of diesel powered pick ups.

Chronicle is doing a constant monitoring of the vehicles, one of them carrying a bundle of Compaq computers was sighted driving in the general direction of VRA head office yesterday, but lost one of our paparazzis, near the Liberty road around 14:02 hours.

Chronicle is aware of the power blocs within the NPP who are trying to stop the President from getting information first-hand and will name names soon.

One of the more important recommendations of the committee is the need to change the act establishing VRA which reposes so much power in the hands of the Chief Executive, a source of problem within the authority, which has never had an outsider become CEO.

The outgoing board members are Dr. Jones Ofori-Atta, Chairman; Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby; Mr. D. Fynn, former Managing Director, ECG; Mr. Winton R. Helton, Managing Director, Valco; Daseebre Oti Boateng, New Juabenhene and former Government statistician; Mr. A. Appiah-Menkah, Businessman; Osei Asamoah Bonsu, Chartered accountant (He returned his bonus cheque); Theodore Gyau, Council member of the Association of Ghana Industries and Uborr Dalafu Labal, electrical engineer and chief.

By press time Chronicle learnt that a number of the Board members were banging at the door of the Minister, seeking audience over the widespread dismay over reports of their inability and failure to check Tarzan.

Sources close to the committee also hinted that the members had gone back for the report because of fresh discoveries, which they wanted to incorporate into their report.

The sub-committee, set up by the board to probe Tarzan’s, did not submit its report before it was overtaken by the sacking of the board and the purported ‘standing aside’ by Tarzan, which, Chronicle has learnt, was induced rather than voluntary.

Another source told the Chronicle that despite the bluster, the bombast and the hype, Tarzan had no choice but take the most convenient way out, and his decision to return to office on Tuesday was scorched by the Minister, who read him the riot act.

Surprisingly, the workers had provided a huge cache of damaging information to the committee. Chronicle also had a good share of those documents.

Meanwhile the workers’ leadership was actively canvassing for peace to the restless members in all the regions, assuring them that Government had taken note of their concerns, Chronicle found out independently.

Chronicle is back in court on Monday with Wereko-Brobby, as he battles to obtain a restraining order from the fast track court to stop the paper from writing what they (the paper) believe are matters of public interest, such as the matters raised by the Nduom committee.