Govt. Attempt to Criminalise Administrative Discretion

The MP for Kumbungu, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, has described the intended prosecution of former Finance Minister, Kwame Peprah and others in connection with the Quality Grain 'scandal' as an attempt to criminalise the exercise of administrative discretion.

He maintained that the former government functionaries were officials implementing government decisions and not personal ones, adding, "the real accused person in this trial is democracy".

Speaking to the Network Herald, Alhaji Mumuni accused the government of also committing state funds totaling millions of cedis to the Aveyime rice project.

He said, the NPP administration has given an amount of 25 million cedis to the company to pay its staff whilst another 600 million cedi payment was being processed for the company when the Attorney General held his press conference on the matter. "This was however put on hold," he added.

"If it is really right and appropriate to charge the NDC functionaries for that offence, then they may equally want to charge the NPP officials for committing state funds into the project" Alhaji Mumuni said.

He mentioned Finance Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo and Minister for Agriculture, Major (Rtd.) Courage Quashigah as those involved in the arrangement.

Alhaji Mumuni maintained that the Aveyime Rice Project is a viable one, which has not caused the state any financial loss. He challenged the NPP administration to prove beyond doubt that there has been a loss to the state, since "as far as we, (the NDC), are concerned, there has not been any such loss to the state".

He told the Network Herald that although the Chief Executive of the company (Mrs. Cotton) allegedly siphoned funds out of the accounts of the company, that does not constitute a loss to the government

According to the Kumbungu MP, government holds a floating charge on the present and future assets of the company (QGCL). As a result, the 7.2 million US dollar-damages awarded against Mrs. Cotton and the punitive damages of 10 million dollars all go to the company, meaning Ghana can exercise rights over those sums of money. The floating charge is to ensure that government is not left out of any remedies in the event that things do not go right.

The Serious Fraud Office itself, according to Mumuni, has valued the plants and equipment on the site at Aveyime to be $11 million. "At Aveyime itself, 170 houses have been built, electricity and water have also been extended to the area, which are all assets to the company. These assets put together are more than the $20 million being mentioned, so there really hasn't been any loss to the state", he said.

Alhaji Mumuni, also former Minister for Employment and Social Welfare, said the NPP is suffering from what he called a "credibility gap", realising that the numerous pre-election promises they made cannot be fulfilled due to the stark realities of the times. As a result, he added, the new administration has resorted to these tactics to discredit the former administration.

The MP said the former government and the US partners of slippery Cotton (Mrs.) were the victims of these dealings "and this has been established by the FBI. Suddenly, the victims are now been turned the accused persons".

He said the NDC rejects the charges against its functionaries because it is a political vendetta. "To say that the officials of the previous government should be charged for this matter is warped thinking."

In a radio interview in Accra, the deputy Director of the SFO in charge of Investigations, Theophilus Kudjoe reiterated that the SFO report submitted at the Castle mentioned former Food and Agriculture Minister, Ibrahim Adam and his Chief Director, Samuel Dapaah as the principal government functionaries who dealt with Ms. Cotton.

The ease with which Cotton executed the scam was the result of extensive assistance from the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, Messers Adam and Dapaah, who gave in to every demand raised by Cotton although some were not legitimate, Kudjoe said. He added, "I insisted that the woman should be arrested but this went unheeded."

The SFO report says the Quality Grain operation was a set up for fraud and could only be called a scam.

Kudjoe, who was asked to go on leave by the former government in June 1999, alleged that his removal was in connection with the findings of the SFO in relation to the Quality Grain matter.

Meanwhile, Hon. Mumuni has accused the NPP administration of using the police to harass NDC functionaries. He named about thirty NDC functionaries including former heads of various state institutions who have suffered various forms of intimidation and harassment from the present administration.

The MP, who said most of the former heads of state institutions have been asked to proceed on leave because they worked closely with the former regime, provided a list of the affected persons.

NAME	INSTITUTION
Yaw Donkor	Bureau of National Investigations
Peter Nanfuri	Ghana Police Service
K.B. Quatson	National Security Council
Nii Okine Adjei	Customs Excise and Preventive Service
K.O. Dankwah	Ministry of Finance
David Adom	Internal Revenue Service
Dr. P.K. Kuranchie	Agricultural Development Bank
Appiah Ampofo	National Insurance Commission
Charles Asare	Social Security and National Insurance Trust
Ebenezer Allotey	State Insurance Corporation
Mamoud Hantour	National Investment Bank
Emmanuel Coleman deGraft	State Insurance Corporation
Gideon Agbemebiase	National Investment Bank
E.L. Quartey (Jnr.)	Ghana Airways
J.H. Newman	Ghana Cocobod
Col. G.K. Gbikpi	National Lotteries
Kwesi Ahwoi	Ghana Investment Promotion Centre
Dr. Fifi Elis	SSNIT Clinic
Charles Adjei	Ghana Water Company Limited
Charles Anson-Lawson	Ghana Water Company Limited
A.B. Adjei	Ghana Water Company Limited
Mrs. Doreen Owusu-Fianko	Ghana Tourism Board
Mr. Ayibonte	Tema Development Corporation

Hon. Mumuni said other party functionaries such as General Secretary Huudu Yahaya, former Youth and Sports Minister, E.T. Mensah, Kwamena Ahwoi were invited by the BNI for reasons they cannot explain.

Former Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Cecilia Johnson, a National Vice-Chairman of the NDC, Ms. Sherry Aryettey, and Mrs. Sati Ocran were invited by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

He also named other party faithfuls including E.T. Mensah who were searched by the police for arms. Mumuni described these as machinations of the ruling party to harass and intimidate officials and functionaries of the previous government.