Appeal Court orders stay of proceedings in GIA case

Accra, Dec. 1, GNA - The Appeal Court on Wednesday ordered the High Court (Financial Division) hearing the case of the birth of Ghana International Airline (GIAL) to stay proceedings pending an appeal before=

it. The court was presided over by Mr Justice Isaac Duose. The other jud= ges on the panel were Mr Justice V.D. Ofoe and Justice K.A. Acquaye. The applicants were represented in court by Mr Joshua Nimako, Counse= l for Dr Richard Anane, former Minister of Transport.

Mr Acquah Sampson and Mr Egbert Faibille Jnr, counsel for Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, former Chief of Staff and Prof George Gyan-Baffour, former Deputy=

Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, filed three applications askin= g the High Court to order the prosecution to make available all pre-trial disclosures to aid the accused persons in their defense. The High Court presided over by Mr Justice Bright Mensah declined to=

grant the application, upholding submissions of Ms Gertrude Aikins, Direc= tor of Public Prosecution, that the case was not a constitutional matter, whi= ch had to be sent to the Supreme Court for interpretation. Subsequent to this, counsel filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal. Mr Justice Mensah had adjourned the matter to December 20. The accused persons are Dr Anane, Mr Mpiani, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, former Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning= , Mr Sammy Crabbe, former Greater Accra Regional Chairman of New Patriotic Party, and Prof Gyan-Baffour.

They are facing 22 counts of causing financial loss to the State, defrauding by false pretences, conspiracy to deceive public officers, dec= eit of public officer, misappropriation of public funds, opening an offshore account without authorisation from the Bank of Ghana, conspiracy to steal=

and stealing. The accused persons have pleaded not guilty to the charges and the court has granted them self-cognisance bail. The facts as presented by Ms Aikins are that Dr Anane misrepresented=

facts on GIAL, which was then not in existence, to the cabinet of former President John Agyekum Kufuor and misled government to buy shares of a fraudulent company. Dr Anane's action subsequently led to the liquidation of Ghana Airwa= ys. Director Public Prosecution (DPP) said Dr Anane declared that four companies had expressed interest in Ghana Airways and later presented a letter of intent, which was signed by the Government of Ghana and GIAL, t= o form a new company called New Ghana Airways (NGA), although GIAL was at t= hat time not in existence. She said the memorandum Dr Anane presented to cabinet for signing wa= s dated September 9, 2004 but GIAL was not in existence at that date. Ms Aikins said although PriceWaterhouseCoopers had rated NGA, which had signed an agreement with government to form GIAL, third after two other airlines, NGA won the bid.

She said Mr Mpiani, on June 2, 2005, wrote to the Chairman of Government Taskforce on Ghana Airways Limited authorising it to take all necessary steps to put the airline into formal liquidation. The DPP said Dr Akoto Osei signed a loan agreement committing the government to a financial obligation of paying GH¢15 million from the S= ocial Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to GIAL. She said Dr Akoto Osei gave the amount from SSNIT to GIAL as a loan,=

without Parliamentary approval and at a time when the minority shareholde= rs of the Airline had abandoned the company by withdrawing $1.9 million from=

GIAL account without the consent of majority shareholder, Government of Ghana. Ms Aikins said Mr Mpiani authorised the release of six million dolla= rs to GIAL in September 2008, without Parliamentary approval. According to the prosecution, Mr Crabbe, who represented the minorit= y Shareholders in the company, on June 27, 2005 withdrew $1.9 million from the Government of Ghana's account, without approval from the government, the majority shareholder.