National Service director charged

The Executive Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS), Alhaji Alhassan Mohammed Imoro, was yesterday remanded by the Accra Circuit Court for allegedly stealing GHc86.9 million belonging to the state.

He was picked up last Monday after 27 district directors, 10 regional directors and three directors from the NSS headquarters had been picked up for questioning.

They have all been granted bail by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI). Some or all of them will be arraigned after investigations have been completed.

Alhaji Imoro, who was clad in a light blue locally-made  attire, pleaded not guilty to one count of stealing, contrary to Section 124 (1) of the Criminal Offences Act, Act 29 0f 1960, but was remanded to reappear on October 27, 2014.

The accused person was brought to court at exactly 2:30 p.m. He looked calm and managed occasional smiles during the court hearing.

Refusal of bail

Refusing an application from Alhaji Imoro’s lawyer for bail, the court, presided over by Mr Francis Obiri, upheld the prosecution’s prayer for a remand warrant to enable investigators to complete investigations into the alleged massive rot in the operations of the NSS.

Investigations conducted by the BNI indicate that 22,612 ghost names were generated at the headquarters of the NSS, resulting in the loss of GH¢7.9 million in July, 2014 alone.

According to the prosecution, Alhaji Imoro, from September, 2013 to July, 2014, stole a total sum of GH¢86.9 million from the state’s coffers.

Upholding a prayer from  Deputy Superintendent of Police Mr A. A. Annor, for a remand warrant, the judge said, “I am of the view that the prosecution should be given the opportunity in this exercise.

 “I, therefore, hold the view that it will be proper, fair, just and in consonance with equity and good conscience to accede to the prayer of the prosecution.”

Defence team

Counsel for Alhaji Imoro, Ms Hanifa Yahaya, pleaded with the court to grant her client bail because the law allowed bail for such offences.

She said her client was a civil servant with many years’ experience, a father, had a fixed place of abode and would, therefore, not jump bail.

Ms Yahaya gave an assurance that her client would co-operate with investigators if granted bail.

Prosecution opposes bail

But Mr Annor , who had earlier urged the court to remand the accused person, disagreed with the defence counsel’s position on the grounds that  “we want to get to the bottom of this matter”.

“He may be exonerated after investigations or more evidence may crop up against him. It is important we are allowed to complete investigations in its entirety,” he said.

According to him, Alhaji Imoro was needed to assist in the investigations and, therefore, it was too early for him to be granted bail.

“The presence of the accused person in our office will facilitate investigations,” Mr Annor added.

Court’s decision 

Ruling on the bail application, the court held that it had considered the argument from the parties in the case but it had the discretion to either grant or refuse bail.

Under the circumstance, the court was of the considered opinion that investigators needed to be given ample time to complete investigations.

“Bail would be declined at this stage. The defence team can repeat its bail application on the next adjourned date,” Mr Obiri said.

He, nonetheless, directed the prosecution to allow the defence lawyer to have access to her client within normal working hours.

Facts

According to the facts of the case, the BNI in July, 2014 began a nationwide investigation into the operations of the NSS with regard to the payment of monthly allowances to service persons.

It said investigations so far revealed that for every month starting from the month of September 2013 to the month of July 2014,  GHc7.9 million was paid to 22,612 non-existing/ghosts service persons, resulting in a total loss of GHc86.9 million within the period.

The facts went on to state that it came up during the investigations that the ghost names were generated at the NSS headquarters “under the supervision of the Executive Director; thus the accused person.”

“The accused instructed and the names were added to the payment vouchers (PVs) of all the districts that service persons were rendering their services.

The payment vouchers were distributed to the regional national service scheme directors and on receipt, they also distributed to the district directors under their jurisdiction,” the facts continued.

Alhaji Imoro then signed cheques, which were deposited at banks in the various districts service persons had been posted and thus drew their allowances from.

Directives

“The accused person also issued instructions to the district directors through the regional directors that after the allowances of genuine service persons have been paid, the money for the non-existing/ghost service persons should be withdrawn and sent to him through the regional directors,” the facts of the case said.

According to the prosecution, Alhaji Imoro allegedly  received the GHc86.9 million from his 10 regional directors.

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We want our second-tier pension deductions — POTAG

Members of the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) are up in arms against the government for failing to release their second tier pension deductions for investment.

The association has accused the Bank of Ghana (BoG) of holding on to the 5.5 per cent deductions from the salaries of  its 2,600 members for the past two years.

According to the Chairman of the Accra Polytechnic Chapter of POTAG, Mr Jones Ntiamoah, “the delay in paying the second tier SSNIT deductions to the registered fund managers is creating unease and tension across all the 10 polytechnics”.

He said the government had failed to release the amount deducted since 2012 to the private pension managers, “although many of our members have either retired or are about to go home”.

Expressing worry over the delay, Mr Ntiamoah said members who had retired were worried and “simply don't know what will happen to their funds”.

He said these were members who had served the country diligently for decades and it was, therefore, not fair for them to be treated in such manner.

Ultimatum

Consequently, members of the association have given the government up to the end of October 2014 to release the money to fund managers for investment.

“Otherwise, we will pursue all legitimate means to address our grievances,” Mr Ntiamoah warned. 

He could not state the exact amount involved, but said it was in the range of millions of cedis.

Warming up

Mr Ntiamoah said “with the pension reforms, SSNIT no longer pays lump sums after retirement”, adding that the new Pension Act had now mandated private pension managers to manage the 5.5 per cent deductions on behalf of employees. 

“All the 10 chapters are warming up to register their displeasure with the government for the delay in releasing the deductions made so far. 

“My members think they can be short-changed because their deductions are not being invested. 

“What is baffling and interesting is that we have reliably been informed that the government intends to release the funds to private fund managers set up by the top echelon of power linked with the government,” he said.

He explained that the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) used to deduct their contributions for onward submission to SSNIT, but with the introduction of the new Pension Act, the money was now channelled to the BoG.

“We want them to release the amount to the registered fund managers selected by POTAG. They are United Pension, HFC and Stanbic Bank,” Mr Ntiamoah added.

He said this was not an issue that must be dragged because members of the association had earned their money and deserved good investment on their funds.

Be calm

Urging the members of POTAG to be calm, a Deputy Minister of Education, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said his outfit had referred the issue to the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations for redress.

“The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations is working on their concerns and we urge them to be patient,” he said.

Background

This latest warning from POTAG comes barely two months after its members called off a three-month-long strike in protest against the government’s failure to pay them book and research allowances.

POTAG members were on strike from May 15, 2014 to August 31, 2014, resulting in the closure of all polytechnics in the country.

The association, however, called off the strike after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) had been signed between it and the government.

The MoU indicated that the book and research allowance for the 2013/2014 academic year would be paid.

6 Regional directors of NSS arrested

The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) has arrested six regional directors of the National Service Scheme (NSS) in connection with ongoing investigations into the GH¢7.9 million scandal at the scheme.

They are Nana Fosu Amankwa Agyapong, Eastern Region; Alhaji Shaibu Abiru, Northern; George Naanwinyelle Dasah, Upper East; Gabriel Nyorkeh, Volta; Michael Tottime, Western, and Seth Asiedu, Greater Accra.

Also apprehended is the Kwahu North (Afram Plains) District Director of the scheme, Samuel Brempong.

27 Granted bail

Meanwhile, 27 district directors who were picked up last week Wednesday have been granted bail, with two sureties each to be justified.

They are also to report twice a week to the BNI.

They are Emmanuel Asiedu Boafo, Kwahu West; Frank Akoto Acquah, Atwima Kwanwoma; Abdul Aziz Armah, Agona Swedru; Batholomew Hanny, Wassa Amenfi East; Regina Kyanoo, Lambussie Kani, and Anastasia Zanoo, Ga South.

Others are Noah Kofi Boadi, Asante Akim South; Ali Issah, Bole; Gideon Kumase, Ga West; Joseph Kumah, Nanumba North; Alhassan Yahaya, Gushegu; Iddrisu Mohammed Gunu, Tolon; Siibu Mahama, West and North Gonja; Mohammed Abu Hanifah, Nanumba South, and Iddrisu Adam, Karaga.

Yet others are Hayford Bredzei, Ho; Alfred Mensah, Jomoro; John Sam, Asante Akim Central; Emmanuel Boafo Asiedu, Kumasi Metro, and Jones Tannor, Tano South.

The rest are Sulemana Alhassan, Asunafo South; Andrew Wak, Bawku West; Fidelis Bani, Hohoe; Seth Naorta Bekyire, Gomoa East; Godfred Hooney, Wassa Amenfi East; Benjamin Amponsah, Bia East and West; Mark Mwirii Jebuni, Saboba; Shaibu Malik, Mamprusi West, and Shaibu Mbema, Gonja East.

We mean business
“We have started arresting regional directors. We are working round the clock to ensure the taxpayer receives justice,” a source at the BNI noted while updating the Daily Graphic on what the bureau was doing to unravel the payment of GH¢7.9 million to 22,612 ghost national service persons for July 2014.
    According to the source, the BNI was working diligently and was unfazed by comments on how it was working.
    “We know what we are doing. We are working with utmost professionalism and know what to do at any particular point in time.
    “This is not a nine-day wonder or a fluke. We mean business and will follow this case to its logical conclusion,” it said.
   
Vetting of payment vouchers
Meanwhile, the bureau is scrutinising the payment of allowances to service personnel until further notice.
The state is expected to save more than GH¢94 million annually following the move by the BNI to stop further looting of state resources through the payment of allowances to non-existent service persons.
Explaining the rationale behind the security service’s decision, a source close to the investigators told the Daily Graphic, “We are designing special payment vouchers for the purpose of paying allowances for August and September 2014.”

No hold on allowances
Denying rumours that the BNI had put a permanent freeze on allowances, it said, “We are only scrutinising payment vouchers to ensure that only genuinely registered NSS personnel are paid.”
It told the Daily Graphic that the rumours, which were being circulated among service personnel on social media, were “calculated to pit the unsuspecting personnel against the BNI to cover up the gargantuan fraud at the NSS perpetrated against the state”.

The rot
According to a BNI report available to the Daily Graphic, investigators discovered that district directors of the scheme were the sole signatories to the accounts opened in the name of the NSS at the district level.
    It said it was also established that National Service directors in the districts and most managers of banks where NSS allowances were lodged “worked closely together in these dubious payments”.
   
Bribery
Twenty-three directors of the NSS were alleged to have paid GH¢200,000 as bribe to BNI investigators to conceal the financial canker at the scheme.
The Executive Director of the NSS, Alhaji Alhassan Imoro, and five of his directors were last Friday ordered to step aside for investigations to continue, but two of his deputies have since been recalled.

Recalled
A statement signed by the Board Chairman of the NSS, Mrs Gifty Mahama Bayira, and issued in Accra said a preliminary report from the BNI indicated that Mr Michael Kombor, who is in charge of Finance and Administration, and Madam Sophia Karen Akuako, the Deputy Director in charge of Operations, had not been cited for any wrongdoing

Humado testifies in GYEEDA case

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A former Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Clement Kofi Humado, yesterday told the Financial Division of the High Court that he had approved the processing of $2 million for a consortium formed to access a $65-million World Bank facility for youth development programmes in the country.

According to him, he acted based on his trust in a former National Co-ordinator of the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA), Abuga Pele.
He said Pele had told him the said amount represented three per cent of the $65 million, instead of the initial 15 per cent the consortium had wanted to charge.
Testifying as the third prosecution witness in the GH¢4.1 million GYEEDA trial, the former minister told the court that Pele told him about efforts by a consortium, made up of the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI) and a private firm, Goodwill International Ghana (GIG), to source the $65 million.
Pele and a representative of the GIG, Philip Akpeena Assibit, are facing various charges for causing financial loss of GH¢41.1 million to the state.

Memo for payment

Mr Humado said Pele also informed him that then Vice-President John Dramani Mahama was in agreement with efforts at sourcing the funds from the World Bank and, indeed, later confirmed his approval of the sourcing of funds to him (Humado).
According to the witness, Pele also told him that in order to access the World Bank facility, the consortium had been engaged in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2009, two years before he (Humado) was appointed to head the Youth and Sports Ministry.
He said Pele forwarded a memo dated April 20, 2011 to him (Humado), asking for reimbursement because the consortium had done some work to collate data to be forwarded to the World Bank.
Accompanying Pele’s letter were an invoice and a memo signed by Assibit.
Activities performed by the consortium were listed as labour policy review, action plan for Youth Enterprises Programme (YEP) development, exit programme for all YEP modules and the engagement of 250 people to collate data for the World Bank.
“I told him I was freshly appointed and had barely been at post for two months. I asked if he was satisfied with the deliverables and he said ‘yes’,” Mr Humado stated in reference to a conversation he had with Pele before approving the processing of payment.
He said he recalled telling Pele that he (Pele) was the overall technical and managerial head who was supposed to know better.
Mr Humado said he relied “very heavily” on Pele’s memo because he had little doubt about Pele’s advice and competence.
He said he also trusted Pele’s integrity as a former Member of Parliament.
The invoice and memos were tendered in evidence without objection from the defence team.

Pele’s view

The witness said Pele had been of the view that the three per cent quotation was “very conservative and reasonable” and, therefore, sought approval for payment.
Mr Humado said he had a meeting with his chief director and internal auditor to discuss the issue and that at the said meeting, the two technical officers were of the view that they (technical officers) were not “too clear” about the relationship between the MDPI and the GIG.
That notwithstanding, the technical officers advised that it would be safer for the money to be paid to the MDPI, which was a state institution.
He said he then approved Pele’s memo on the premise that the money was “refundable”.

New Invoice

Mr Humado said he later received an invoice from Assibit calling for the payment of GH¢835,000 for tracer studies conducted by the consortium.
Unlike the usual MDPI letterhead, he said, Assibit’s memo was on a different letterhead, which he described as “not usual”.
Aside from that, the witness said “it should not have come to me directly” and for that reason he minuted it and directed it to be sent to Pele for advice.
On September 3, 2012, the witness said Pele forwarded a memo asking for the release of GH¢835,000, being claims submitted by GIG for conducting tracer studies.
The memo, he explained, was accompanied by an invoice from GIG.

Strange development

Describing the GH¢835,000 as strange, Mr Humado said he could not tell whether or not the request formed part of the 2009 MoU and for that reason he directed that there should be a separate procurement for the GH¢835,000 claim but heard nothing on that issue again.
Mr Humado was led in evidence by a Chief State Attorney, Mrs Yvonne Attakorah-Obuobisa, and is billed to continue with his evidence-in-chief today.
According to the witness, Pele introduced Assibit to him as a consultant engaged by the MDPI to assist in oil and gas and other related matters.

Background

The state has accused Assibit of putting in false claims that he had secured a $65-million World Bank funding for the creation of one million jobs for the youth, that claim resulting in the government parting with GH¢4.1 million.
Pele is alleged to have entered into a contract with Assibit to engage in activities which have injured the state financially.
Pele has pleaded not guilty to two counts of abetment of crime, intentionally misapplying public property and five counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the state.
Assibit has also pleaded not guilty to six counts of defrauding by false pretences and five counts of dishonestly causing loss to public property.
They are both on bail.