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The names of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo have popped up in a fraudulent payment of US$ 1 million to an alleged UK-based asset recovery company called Kroll Associates.
The fraud was spotted by the Auditor General (A-G) in its report of an audit conducted on Ministries and government agencies in 2018.
On page 27 of the report issued in June 2019, the A-G directly stated that Kroll Associates was paid a whopping US$ 1 million for no work done.
“During our review of the contract of Kroll Associates, we noted that though there was no evidence of work done, the Ministry[of Finance] in 2018 paid an amount of US$ 1 million (equivalent of GHC 4, 890,000) to the company.
According to the A-G payment had been made several months to Kroll before an official contract was signed in September 2017.
When the A-G officially wrote to the Ministry of Finance demanding proof of work done by Kroll Associate, the Ministry curiously contacted the Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo’s Office to provide the proof.
Incidentally, the Senior Minister’s office is under the Presidency and is not subject to an order from the Ministry of Finance. Also, the contract was clearly awarded by the Ken Ofori-Atta led Finance Ministry.
This response took almost a year after the audit query by the A-G
On August 23, 2019, the Senior Minister finally wrote to the finance ministry. The finance ministry has only written to the Senior Minister’s office a day prior (on August 22, 2019).
In the letter intercepted by Whatsup News, the Senor Minister gave a scanty confirmation of the work supposedly done by Kroll Associates.
“Since September 2017, Kroll has been working with the Government of Ghana to undertake extensive and thorough investigations of allegations of wrongdoing and providing evidence of assets recoveries for possible prosecution,” the letter provided as proof.
It went on to explain that Kroll signed a letter of intent on 2nd February 2017 that allowed Kroll commence work on February 13, 2017.
The further proof Mr. Osafo Marfo’s office provided include the fact that: “Kroll has since worked diligently and consistently and their fees have been paid against the investigations they have conducted and value of assets Kroll has identified and secured. All payments were properly invoiced for settlement.”
This statement alleging to provide proof to the A-G’s query has raised several disturbing questions, including why a contract signed by the Finance Ministry and paid by the Finance Ministry was invoiced by the Office of the Senior Minister.
Also, critics have questioned why the two ministries by-passed all the security agencies and investigative bodies like the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to delegate such a task to an obscure private company in the UK.
There are speculations that individuals within the Akufo Addo administration are behind the company Kroll Associates.
This is the latest scandal being linked to the Finance Minister and other top officials of the Akufo Addo administration which has been dogged by an avalanche of reported corruption scandals.
Rawlings calls for Truce In Mahama, Otumfuo Fracas
Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings has asked for an end to acrimonies generated by comments and counter-responses between the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and ex-President John Dramani Mahama.
Former President Rawlings took to social media on Monday to call the partisan banter between the two heavyweights “unwarranted and unnecessary.”
“There is enough tension, let’s cool off” Jerry Rawlings exclaimed.
“The Asantehene has made us proud with a highly educative address to the UN on the subject of PEACE. Comments by former President Mahama on an aspect of the address shouldn’t elicit or provoke edict sounding threats…,” the founder of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) wrote.
On Friday, September 13, 2019, the Asantehene told the United Nations General Assembly in Washington DC that John Mahama only conceded defeat in the 2016 Presidential elections to Nana Akufo Addo, the then Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) after a high-profile mediation between him and the two contenders.
However, in a quick response, ex-President Mahama stated unequivocally that he conceded defeat without the prompting of a special mediation as the Asante monarch claimed.
Setting the records straight, ex-President Mahama’s office admitted that he had indeed met with the Asantehene on three occasions and that this meetings were not directly to avert conflict over him refusing to accept defeat. The statement explained that the first was prior to the December 07 election in which the two frontline candidates promised to play fair and respect the will of the people.
“The other two meetings took place after the official declaration of the results of the elections, and to re-emphasise after President Mahama had publicly conceded and congratulated Nana Akufo-Addo. Those two meetings focused on matters arising out of the transition process. President Mahama made a commitment to the people of Ghana, never to be the one to subject them to the periods of unease, political instability and the doubts they experienced after the 2008 and 2012 elections. He remained true to that commitment and exemplified it after the 2016 elections,” the statement concludes.
This response has naturally raised issues of credibility of the accounts of the Asante monarch, a possibility that has angered many natives of the Ashanti Region who have warned ex-President Mahama to apologise for bringing the name of their king into disrepute.
A group calling itself the Asante Youth Association has condemned ex-president Mahama in what they described as attempts to use his ‘political gains’ to destroy the Asante Kingdom. They therefore declared the ex-president persona non grata in the Ashanti Region.