Akufo-Addo Goes After Quality Grain Woman

The Attorney General's department has applied for certified copies of a judgment given by an American court against Mrs. Juliet R. Cotton, the woman at the centre of the $20 million Quality Grain scandal.

The personal assistant of Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Ursula Owusu-Adjei, told Public Agenda on Thursday that the copies would enable the Attorney General (A-G) firm up a decision on the government's options. JR Cotton is the CEO of Quality Grain.

Already, reports say that the A-G's office has formally charged ex-Finance Minister, Kwame Peprah, Ibrahim Adams former Agriculture Minister and Dr. Samuel Dapaah, Chief Director of the Ministry of Agriculture for their alleged role in the scandal.

Looking at the government's options regarding JR Cotton, J. Ayikoi Otoo, national secretary of the Ghana Bar Association said she can be sued even after the government has taken over the company's assets here to recover the entire loan.

He said Order 11 of the High Court Procedure Rules allows the government to sue her although JR Cotton is outside the government's jurisdiction. This is because the case against JR Cotton is civil in nature and therefore Ghana does not need her extradition to stand trial in the country.

Government could sue JR Cotton through the Ghana Embassy in the USA or through a courier, according to Ayikoi Otoo.

JR Cotton reportedly spent part of the money on her wedding, bought a seven billion-cedi ($1million) house in fashionable area of Atlanta called St. Ives, two Mercedes Benz cars, a jaguar, fur and designer suits as working gear for the farmers!

According to JR Cotton's testimony in court, she bought those assets with the possibilities of hosting Ghana government officials including Nana Rawlings, wife of the ex-President in mind. The leader of the 31st December Women's Movement has for now not commented on the issue.

Prof. John Atta Mills, ex-Vice President, who accused the new government of spinning to embarrass the NDC administration at a press conference in March 2001, has also remained quiet.

"It is quite clear that these statements (large debts and corruption) on the Ghanaian economy are only intended to support the unsubstantiated charges of mismanagement and incompetence levelled against us during the electioneering campaign," Prof. Mills charged at his first press confab after his thrashing at the polls in December.

But Akufo-Addo at his press confab, fingered Prof. Mills for contributing immensely to the huge losses. The former Vice President authorised more money to be released to JR Cotton at the beginning of 1999 without due regard to the law and even when it was clear that the company not deliver any rice.

Prospects of Ghana getting adequate compensation from JR Cotton though do not look very bright. JR Cotton's response to the American court order to refund $7.2 million for misapplying the loan for the Aveyime rice project was basically saying there isn't much left in her coffers.

"You can't get blood from a turnip," she told the court. The court action was brought against her by two of JR Cotton's colleagues in the Quality Grain project. Quality Grain, which had an office in Gwinnett County, in Atlanta Georgia is out of business.

The swift move by the Kufuor administration to take over the rice project had hardly taken off when a US court asked the woman at the centre of the scandal to pay the $7.2 million.

The government has initiated measures to take over the company completely "to cut some of the losses and attempt to gain some value from this entire, sorry saga," Akufo Addo said.

The contract NDC government signed with Quality Grain allows Ghana to take over the project if she failed to deliver.

"The legal take-over of the assets by Government will in infact only regularise what was always the fact, the assets were at all times financed and owned by Government. The company was in reality only the middleman or woman," Akufo-Addo, pointed out at a press conference on Quality Grain on Wednesday, April 25th.