"I don’t know amount involved"

THE former Minister of Trade, Mr Dan Abodakpi, yesterday told the Fast Track High Court in Accra that although a friend, whom he mentioned as Mr Moukarzel, fully paid for his daughter’s university education in the United Kingdom, he did not know the exact amount involved.

He said the daughter, Rejoice, first schooled at East London University in the UK between 1996 and 1999 for her first degree before proceeding to the A & M University in Texas in the United States for post graduate studies.

Mr Abodakpi was testifying on behalf of the defence in the case in which Victor Selormey, an ex-Deputy Minister of Finance, is being tried for alleged financial malfeasance.

Selormey is said to have conspired with one Dr Frederick Owusu-Boadu, a Ghanaian consultant in the United States to fraudulently cause the loss of $1,297,500 to the state.

He has pleaded not guilty to six counts of conspiracy, defrauding by false pretence and wilfully causing financial loss to the state and has been granted bail in the sum of ?1.5 billion with two sureties to be justified.

Answering questions under cross-examination by Mr Osafo Sampong, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Abodakpi said because of his relationship with Mr Moukarzel, he (Moukarzel) approached him to sponsor Rejoice’s university education, a request he agreed to.

He, however, said that he was never given full details of how much was spent on her.

He further told the court, presided over by Mr Justice Sam Baddoo, an Appeal Court judge, who sat as an additional High Court judge, that he was not aware that his daughter stayed with Dr Owusu-Boadu when she arrived in the US before moving to the hostel.

Asked whether Dr Owusu-Boadu also paid some of his daughter’s school fees in the US, Mr Abodakpi replied in the negative, adding that a post -graduate student does not need any financial assistance.

With regard to the contract signed between the Government of Ghana and Leebda Corporation for the court computerisation project, Mr Abodakpi said that the project was part of an $80 million USAID sponsored Trade and Investment Project (TIP) aimed at improving the legal system.

According to him, the TIP was geared towards improving the operational capacity of the private sector and other selected state agencies and said the project was well-managed and some savings were made which were made available to exporters in the form of credit.

Mr Abodakpi said in 1997, Dr Owusu-Boadu called at his office and commended the Gateway Project but stressed the need for an improvement in the judicial system for the adjudication of cases.

Thereafter, he said, Dr Owusu-Boadu made presentations to the late Chief Justice, Mr Justice I. K. Abban, after which a seminar organised on the issue exposed the inherent problems of the Judiciary and the need to computerise the service.

Mr Abodakpi said he did not see the need to counter-sign the contract for the court computerisation project because it originated from the Ministry of Finance.

Asked whether it is proper for letters from the Ministry of Trade to be without reference numbers, he said although he did not see anything wrong with that, it is an administrative requirement that they should have reference numbers.

Earlier, Mr Kwame Peprah, former Minister of Finance, told the court that he was fully briefed by Selormey on the contract between the government and Leebda.

He said Selormey had the power to sign contracts at various levels including the one with Leebda.

He said although there were no witnesses during the signing of that agreement, he saw nothing wrong with that since “we have been signing contracts without witnesses”.

Mr Peprah said Dr Owusu-Boadu’s association with the Ministry of Finance is not new, since he had earlier done some work for the ministry in connection with the cocoa sector.

The case has been adjourned to July 16.