$1m theft of Ghanaians’ cash in Tripoli

THE GHANA MISSION in Libya is yet to recover from an unprecedented scandal that has rocked the embassy involving the theft of about ?6.5 billion ($1,000,000) representing monies belonging to Ghanaians in Libya, who are barred from saving in local banks in the country.

The Consul of the mission, Mr. Issaka, a cadre and trained commando, who took custody of the monies, sustained serious injuries after being set upon by highly agitated Ghanaian women, who clouted his face with raw punches during a demonstration at the premises of the Mission.

Chronicle gathered that two Ghanaians died on the spot while many others sustained various degrees of injuries. About 47 Ghanaians were also reported to have been arrested and imprisoned for several months with hard labour in stinking Libyan prisons.

According to two Ghanaians who were interviewed by the Chronicle on their arrival at the Kotoka International Airport last week, some Ghanaians have been ejected from their homes because their rent expired and have therefore settled in camps, some of which are very close to refuse dumps. They added that others who were very sick and needed to be brought back home for treatment died because there was no money to fly them home. .

“My brother, some Ghanaians developed mental problems instantly when the Ambassador, Mr. B. A. Fuseini, and the Consul, Mr. Issaka, broke the news on June 14, this year that the money they had entrusted in their care for safe keeping had been stolen.”

Meanwhile, the government of Ghana has dissociated itself from the scandal because it claims it is against its policy , for that matter the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the policy of the Libyan government, for the Mission to have engaged itself in the business of keeping custody of such money.

When Chronicle contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, last week for their comments, a very top official who did not want to be identified said, “The case had gone to Cabinet and that the government had decided that it was illegal for the officials concerned to have collected the money in the first place... the government does not have the money to settle them and the officials concerned are supposed to manage the situation themselves.”

Foreign Ministry sources told the Chronicle that Mr. Issaka was innocent and that reports from the Libyan police suggested that the money was stolen by the Ghanaians themselves. But the Ghanaians also maintain that they couldn’t have stolen their own money and that they also suspected the Mr. Issaka and some of the Embassy’s staff of conspiring to steal the money.

Responding to Chronicle enquiries on the circumstances that led to the loss of such a huge amount of money from the drawer of Mr. Issaka, one Clement Apraku said Mr. Issaka told them that he left his office door open because on that fateful day when the money was stolen, his wife was sick and so he became confused and forgot to lock his door.

Mr. Apraku said that the excuse given by the Consul was not tangible, so they went to the Embassy ten days after the incident to confront him. He said that Mr. Issaka asked them to exercise restraint because it was only 30% of the money which was stolen. He therefore promised to pay them the remaining 70% on the next Embassy day which fell on July 20, this year.

“When the time came for him to give us the money (that is the 70%) it turned out to be another story, so we suspected that he was telling us a lie. We then embarked on a massive and noisy demonstration and it was so terrible and embarrassing that Mr. Issaka had to call the police save the situation.

“It wasn’t easy, it was an eyesore and instead of the Consul to control the situation, he took off his coat and started fighting. When he was defeated, he invited the police to arrest innocent guys who are now languishing in jail. It was too bad, two guys died on the spot and many others were seriously wounded during the incident,” Apraku added.

He said what surprised them most was the fact that the thieves who Mr. Issaka claimed broke into his office took only 30% of the money and left 70%, even though all the money was kept at the same place.

Mr. Apraku continued that the Ghanaians are of the view that they are not being told the truth and that the incident has resulted in some very wild rumour, suggesting the involvement of even “our incorruptible President, J. J Rawlings whom I know to be a man of integrity”.

He explained that the rumour was not based on any evidence, but on the mere basis that the money got missing a few days after the president left Libya.

Asked whether he shared this view, he said he did not, “But Chairman Rawlings should do something about this hanging and crazy rumour, and this will depend on how the government will handle the case.”

He noted that their suspicion that there was something fishy was deepened by the refusal of the Consul to grant a request from the Libyan security personnel to take fingerprints of all the Embassy’s staff and also to send the whole Embassy staff to the security for interrogation and investigation. This same point was reiterated by Messrs Joe Degaul and Kwame Nketia.

Mr. Apraku urged the government of Ghana to immediately arrange for the money to be refunded to them and also as a matter of urgency negotiate with the Libyan government for the Ghanaians in prison to be freed since some of them are very ill and need urgent medical attention.

Five Ghanaians who spoke to the Chronicle all fingered Mr. Issaka for corruption, but rather sang songs of praise for the former Consul, one Mohammed Ahmed.

“Mr. Mohammed Ahmed, God bless you and have a nice time . We give you a big ‘ayikoo.’ The whole Ghanaian population in Libya knew how accountable you were and the genuine work you did at the Embassy. You really deserve the position of a Consul,” Apraku said.

One of the charges levelled against Mr. Issaka by the frustrated Ghanaians was that he had been issuing Ghanaian passports to Nigerians and other foreign nationals. Though Ministry officials were not questioned on this allegation, one of them mentioned that they had received scores of complaints that some foreigners were in possession of Ghanaian passports and that there were instances when some Nigerians committed crimes and left Ghanaian passports at the scene to send the signal that Ghanaians were responsible for the crime.

Another Ghanaian who pleaded anonymity for fear of being deported told the Chronicle in a telephone interview that speculations were swelling among the Ghanaian Community that Mr. Issaka was going to be withdrawn and that if it was true then the Government should ensure that their monies were paid to them before Issaka left the shores of Libya.

“We agree that Issaka should be sent back home to join his so-called Commando Squad, but this must be done only when he has paid us the 70% he claims has remained. We are in dire need of only the 70% he claims the thieves left behind and the NDC shouldn’t use its veto power to send him home. We need our money,” he demanded.

Commenting on the kind of jobs they were doing, one Kwame Nketiah said, “Most of us have become by-force masons, distillers of our local gin, (Akpeteshie). Just consider how our sisters have suffered in this prostitution business for all this while. Some of us have been here for over fifteen years, so how can we go home with empty hands.”

Other reports reaching the Chronicle indicate that the Ghana Mission has become the laughing stock of the diplomatic community in Libya.

Attempts by the Chronicle to contact Mr. Issaka for his side of the story proved futile by press time, Friday.

Chronicle investigations continue.