October 14, 2010 (Page 51)
A Deputy Minister of Information on Tuesday told the Accra Fast Track High Court that it was impossible to annul or ratify proceedings that resulted in the award of GH¢86,915.85 contract for renovation works at the ministry because there was no record of proceedings in the first place.
Testifying in the case in which a former Minister of Information, Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, together with eight others, is standing trial, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said the accused persons did not comply with procurement procedures to warrant any ratification or annulment.
He said there were no records of meetings an minutes while members of the ministry’s procurement unit were not privy to meetings, if any, before the award of the contract.
Asamoah-Boateng and his wife Zuleika are standing trial with Frank Agyekum, a former Deputy Minister at the ministry, Kofi Asamoah-Boateng, a former Director of Finance and Administration at the Ministry of Information; Kwabena Denkyira, a former Deputy Director of Finance and Administration at the ministry; Yasmin Domua and Prosper Aku of Supreme Procurement Agency Ltd, as well as the company as an entity, charged with contravening the Procurement Act.
They are alleged to have conspired to contravene the Procurement Act by not following the due process in obtaining a contract amounting to GH¢86,915.85 for renovation works at the Ministry of Information.
Sampong is facing six counts of conspiracy, contravention of the Procurement Act, attempt to defraud, altering documents and deceit of public officer, while Agyekum has been charged with conspiracy, contravention of provision, attempt to defraud and deceit of public officer.
Domua, a manageress and cousin of Zuleika’s, is charged with conspiracy to commit crime, after which she was granted a GH¢10,000 bail with two sureties.
Kofi Asamoah-Boateng faces six counts of forgery of official document, possession of forged documents and forgery and possession of false document, while Denkyira faces a charge of conspiracy.
Prosper has also been charged with four counts of possession and forgery of document of architects, an engineering certificate and a false tender document.
All the accused persons have pleaded not guilty to the charges and have all been admitted to bail.
Answering questions under cross-examination, the Deputy Minister said it was also not legally prudent to annul any contract because Supreme Procurement Agency Limited was making demands for payment of renovation works it carried out.
He said members of the procurement board at the ministry said they were neither present nor privy to any meetings held in connection with the award of contract for renovation works.
Mr Ablakwa admitted that GH¢36,000 was spent on renovation works in his office, which was gutted by fire but disagreed with the defence counsel that the amount was on the high side because he said the works on his office were more extensive than those carried out by Supreme Procurement Agency Limited.
There was near crossfire between defence lawyers and a Chief State Attorney, Mr Anthony Gyambiby, when the latter accused the defence lawyers of failing to cross-examine the witness after holding brief for their absentee colleagues.
Mr Gyambiby had stated that it was unfortunate for the defence lawyers to confidently hold their ‘chest out’ in holding brief for their absentee colleagues only to turn round when it got to the point where they were needed for cross-examination.
Replying, one of the defence lawyers, Mr Egbert Faibille, did not take kindly to Mr Gyambiby’s choice of words and reminded the prosecution that there had been countless times where accused persons had been whisked back to prison because state prosecutors were absent in court without any recourse.
The trial judge, Mr Justice Charles Quist, urged the defence lawyers present to communicate the next adjourned date to their absentee colleagues to enable them to cross-examine the witness.
Hearing continues on October 19, 2010.
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