Abuga Pele prayed for lesser jail term because he was MP

The convicted former National Coordinator of the defunct National Youth Employment Programme, Abuga Pele, begged for a lesser jail term due to his status as a former Member of Parliament.

After he was convicted at the Financial Division of the Accra High Court by Justice Afia Serwaa Asare-Botwe, counsel for Mr Pele, Abu Juan Jagiara prayed for not more than six months in prison as his client was a former MP.

He pleaded further that Mr Abuga Pele had already borne the brunt of the consequences of the case as he lost the primaries of his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), as a result of the four-year-old trial.

He also argued that the former lawmaker had a family to cater for.

Mr Abuga Pele was a Member of Parliament for Chiana-Paga before he was appointed as head of NYEP, which was later renamed Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA).

A number of his loyalists had wanted him to contest the 2016 parliamentary polls as an independent candidate given the work done within the NDC.

But he never did.

His conviction was followed on Friday with a six-year jail sentence for willfully causing financial loss to the state.

His accomplice, Philip Assibit, got 12 years in jail for defrauding by false pretences, among other charges.

The two were tried for allegedly colluding to milk the state of GH¢4.1 million.

Mr Assibit, who represented Goodwill International Group (GIG) during the transaction, had presented documents that were unaccounted for to win the contract with GYEEDA, which is now Youth Employment Agency.

The two were sentenced last Friday much to the chagrin of his family, who are leaving the issue to God.