Jailed Abuga Pele not a victim of circumstances – Inusah Fuseini

Former Roads and Highways Minister, Inusah Fuseini has dismissed claims that the former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency, (GYEEDA) Abuga Pele was a mere victim of circumstances after his 6-year sentence by an Accra High Court.

Mr Abuga Pele was on Friday February 23, jailed for willfully causing financial loss to the state, while businessman Philip Assibit was accused of defrauding by submitting false claims causing the country to lose GHC 4 million.

According to the trial judge, Justice Afia Serwaa Asare-Botwe, information from the world bank indicated that the first accused person in the GYEEDA trial, Philip Assibit did not secure any $65 million from the world bank.

The court said Assibit made a false representation by claiming a fee on no work done and found him guilty of defrauding by false pretence.

Pele was alleged to have recommended payment of the said amount to Assibit, with the explanation that Assibit had secured a $65 million facility from the World Bank for a Youth Enterprise Development Programme (YEDP), trained 250 youth as well as conducted tracer studies for an exit strategy for the said youth.

Justice Asare-Botwe said prosecution proved beyond doubt that the former GYEEDA coordinator, Abuga Pele was guilty of 2 counts of abetment to crime and willfully causing financial loss to the state.

Following Friday’s judgment, there’s been many reactions including assertions that Mr Pele was used as a scapegoat because there huge cases of rot in the GYEEDA scandal.

But commenting on the matter on News File on Joy FM Saturday Inusah Fuseini who’s also a lawyer disagreed with such claims.

“I think that Abuga Pele was not a victim of circumstances and I’m speaking as a lawyer and on the part of friendship that is founded on emotive relationship. I think I sympathize entirely with Abuga Pele but on the matter of law it’s clearly an afterthought. There are many processes that one has to go through before you decide whether or not to engage someone to perform a contract.”