Calus Von Brazi

This article has been inspired by the recent attempt by a certain Greg Frazier to get the Mills administration to (i) grant him audience, (ii) form a team, (iii) investigate claims of the existence of $47 billion in Swiss accounts and (iv) enable him provide the password that would “open sesame” the money that is allegedly due Ghana. All of this has come about as a result of financial activities of the late Dr. John Ackah Blay-Miezah, a.k.a Nana Ackah Nyanzu II a.k.a Liina Disca of Allengenzule, Western Region, Republic of Ghana who until his untimely death in 1992 under house arrest was the key to unlocking the billions that Greg Frazier is prepared to bet his entire life on. Any Ghanaian and especially the current administration, would be more than ready to access such funds if they exist, especially at a time that the entire globe is facing a credit crisis, with the financial taps being turned off in the world’s financial capitals as a result of a recession that has been touted as the worst since the Great Depression of 1929. The question that arises immediately is simply this: did Blay-Miezah have such money? If the answer to the question is yes, then one may ask, how come nobody in general and Ghana in particular has been able to access it all these years? This is where the controversies come to play.

Dr. John Blay-Miezah was no fool. Long before Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings acquired the title “boom”, Dr. Blay-Miezah had worn it with pride, having released into the Ghanaian lexicon the phrase “akaraka chi, akaraka cho, akaraka chi cha chi cha cho; homaraka boom, boom, boom” to announce the presence of his adopted team Sekondi Eleven Wise. In fact, CBS once produced a documentary on him, in which he was described as the world’s greatest con man. It was not long before Blay-Miezah issued a legal suit against them and made both a handsome amount and lots of fame out of that. Whatever he made from the CBS publicity was nothing compared to what he managed to stash in several banks across the globe, stretching from Sumotomo in Japan, through UBS in Switzerland, the Bank of Philadelphia, Liechtenstein, Austria and the Cayman islands. Now before proceeding any further with this matter, let us address the issue of the source of the funds. Many are those who have claimed that the money was given to Dr. Blay-Miezah by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to be invested in a private account for the benefit of Ghana. Nothing could be further from the truth; if Nkrumah had done so, he would have been called a thief, for he had no such money. Besides, why would Nkrumah entrust such a fortune to a person like Dr. Blay-Miezah?

In the opinion of some, Dr. Blay-Miezah and Krobo Edusei were always sent by Nkrumah to take gold bars to Egypt to Fathia’s father. Not to be outsmarted, they developed a tendency of skimming off their share of the gold bars and used that as seed to raise cash from several banks in the western world. No proof of this exists - yet. There are also those who claim that Dr. Blay-Miezah was visited by some dwarfs who enabled him attract funds from rich people, the same way that the sakawa boys of today do to their unsuspecting greedy white folks who think it smart to make a quick buck from funds that have accrued to some next-of-kin in some Godforsaken part of the Land of Our Death. That is also the kind of story to be reserved for errant children who refuse to be lulled to sleep after a tiresome adventure. Again, there are those who believe that Dr. Blay-Miezah simply tricked investors from the western world to participate in his grand schemes by investing heavily in the Oman Ghana Trust Fund only for him to refuse to pay dividends when the funds matured and reinvesting in other schemes against the initial agreements. This may or may not be true. However, the most likely and credible story about the source of these funds known to this writer is honestly something that I can never share within these pages, for it has very serious repercussions on the entire financial architecture of the western banking system in the aftermath of the Marshall Plan and the role played by certain individuals within the Swiss Banking fraternity to make an otherwise innocent African parade the corridors of financial power with such pomp, pageantry and pride. Even if I get “invited” by the BNI to give information on this matter, they would have to get a “chemical interrogator” to get me to even wink on that one.

Nonetheless, there are other ways of asserting that the monies in fact do exist. We can easily find out from Messrs Dr. Kwesi Botchway, former Finance Minister of the Republic of Ghana and Captain (Rtd) Kojo Tsikata, former National Security Capo of Ghana. It would be interesting for them to tell their story about what they found when they went to the Cayman Islands with Dr. Blay-Miezah to ascertain the veracity of his claims about accounts in that tax haven. True it is that Captain Kojo Tsikata caused Dr. Blay-Miezah to be placed under house arrest following his embarrassing treatment of the aforementioned public officials. You see, Dr. Blay-Miezah promised to give the Government of Ghana an amount of $15.1 billion. He did travel with the two gentlemen to access the funds. However, being smart as ever, Dr. Blay-Miezah knew that the moment he released the money to the two gentlemen, he would be “finished” and hence having convinced them in the Cayman Islands that the money existed by showing documentary proof corroborated by banking officials therein, he flew out of the islands, just when he was expected to append his signature for the money to be released. It is my firm conviction that it was this “cat and mouse” that so infuriated Captain Kojo Tsikata to cause his arrest and kept in detention until he met his untimely death on June 30, 1992.

Another school of thought has it that Dr. Blay-Miezah’s money in the Cayman Islands had not fully matured and hence he only wanted the two public officials to know of the existence of funds so that in time, he would honour his pledge. Whatever motivated him to dodge that fateful afternoon meeting, we might find out on judgment day but truth is, he showed a clean pair of heels and embarrassed the two bearded ones to the consternation of their banking hosts. There are documents that Dr. Kwesi Botchway signed in the Cayman Islands based on what he found out there and I am sure he would be more than willing to help if the right approach is made to him about these monies. My intelligence ‘godfather’ Mr. K.B. Quantson might also be of immense help in any matter relating to the tracing of Dr. Blay-Miezah’s funds.

Then there is also the interesting case of the 1986 trip to Austria. In the year 1986, Dr. Blay-Miezah managed to get himself, the Government of Ghana and the Austrian/Italian/ Swiss governments embroiled in some trouble regarding the same Oman Ghana Trust Funds. The Government of Ghana sent a battalion of lawyers, led by the late Joe Reindorf to represent it while my grand old man, led Dr. Blay-Miezah’s team of lawyers. There in the heart of continental Europe was found lots of accounts: in Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. My old man tells me, that Dr. Blay-Miezah had a very interesting side of him; he always collected every piece of paper on which notes had been made and personally destroyed them for reasons best known to himself. Although “some financiers” that met these groups of lawyers got themselves arrested on the Italian border, all who traveled on that trip returned to their respective domains fully convinced that indeed, there were several billions of dollars held by various banks on behalf of Dr. Blay-Miezah. The man’s total financial assets at the time were estimated at $300 billion. Mind boggling, isn’t it?

Which brings me to yet another set of questions: why is it that almost all those lawyers who have dealt with Dr. Blay-Miezah’s billions have passed away without enjoying a “piece of the action”? Alhaji Bashiru Kwaw Swanzy, former Attorney-General, Joe Reindorf, my father’s favorite sparring partner, Dr. Ako Adjei of Big Six Fame, former US Attorney General John Mitchell and even more recently, Stephen Hudson Annancy? Dr. Blay-Miezah did not deal with small legal minds for it is said he was as meticulous as the word itself. Perhaps, it was a reflection of who he was, the sort of things he was involved in and the kinds of people he dealt with. Is it any wonder then that it has become so difficult to access the funds he spent a lifetime stashing away and setting the most intelligent of us scratching our heads in despair and disbelief? Let’s ask more questions: what in God’s Holy Name made the former Attorney General of the United States of America, John Mitchell relinquish his high profile job when he had to choose between that high profile job, his reputation and Dr. Blay-Miezah? That John Mitchell would choose Dr. Blay-Miezah and visit him right here in Ghana twice even after he had been disgraced tells us something of the allure of Dr. Blay-Miezah’s billions and the influential circles that had things to do with the mind boggling billions.

And then there is the interesting case of Greg Frazier. Forget about his claims that he is in this to help Ghana. Thankfully he has already named his price. You see, even when Jesus the Christ fed the 5000, he first asked for the 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes. There is clearly no free-feeding anywhere and Greg Frazier is no buffoon to do that. Instead, I think it is also proper that he is honest and forthright with Cadman Mills. You see, Greg Frazier used to drive Dr. Blay-Miezah. I know he doesn’t like this to be mentioned but how do you gain credibility for such a gargantuan task if you hide some of the facts? Well in the course of his work with Dr. Blay-Miezah, he did see, hear and witnessed quite a lot until Dr. Blay-Miezah dispensed with his services on 7th January, 1991. Frazier knows that the funds do exist; he has been around long enough to pinpoint who Njoroge is and can identify Lawyers Dante Mationi, Feldman or Beasley if he has to. What he cannot tell anybody is the so-called password. Another question: do you think if Dr. Blay-Miezah had to access his billions with a password he would tell somebody like Greg Frazier? Why did he not disclose that to Dr. K. Ayeh Kumi, his brothers Kamenla and Paa Kwesi Whajah,nor Nana Arvo Buah or his lovely, very intelligent and extremely beloved daughter Mona-Lisa Blay-Miezah? And yet Greg Frazier wants us to believe that he and he alone knows the password to Blay-Miezah’s accounts? I say he does not know anything. Now let me address Greg directly, for I know he would definitely read this: if the password you are referring to is ORIGINAL (you know what I mean), then I am afraid, it is known already. If on the other hand it is that which must be given at the counter, after ORIGINAL, you and I both know that only Dr. Blay-Miezah can and must give it out in person. In the unfortunate circumstance that he suffers injury, loss of memory and ultimately death, only John Robert Kells can ever extract a single cent for anyone. Why are you creating the impression that you hold something priceless when you know it is as useless as the word useless itself when you are fully aware that none of the banks that hold Dr. Blay-Miezah’s monies would ever deal with you? Please do tell Cadman Mills that yourself, the late Lawyer Stephen Hudson Annancy, and a host of others have all gone to Switzerland and returned empty handed precisely because of this point: you cannot circumvent the tight noose Dr. Blay-Miezah tied to protect his “hard earned money” without first understanding what really the funds are. The clue lies in the reason for which a diplomatic passport is needed. Now let’s go back to the basics… Dr. Blay-Miezah was indeed a master at his unrivaled game and with all due respect to those who believe in shortcuts to money they were not instrumental in acquiring, he was no fool!