Kitchen scandal: Government has backed down from paying GH¢187m judgement debt – Ablakwa

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has stated that his exposés on corruption in the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration are not aimed at making him popular and the government unpopular.

According to him, his main aim is to protect the interest of Ghanaians and, by duty, also hold the other branches of government, particularly the executive, so they don't misappropriate the nation's resources at their disposal.

The MP, who made these remarks in an interview on GHOne TV, on Monday, August 14, 2023, cited the example of how his publication on a transaction of the government, which he describes as the 'kitchen scandal', has helped save the nation GH¢187 million in judgement debt.

“For example, the GH¢187.3 million that I have just protected by exposing the 'Kitchen scandal’. I mean when I check with my sources in the system, government has now backed off … the GRA is no more been given pressure to pay the money.

“And the GRA folks are so grateful for this exposé… that is GH¢187.3 million that can now be used for example, to pay road contractors who are owed, school feeding suppliers who owed, all these abandoned projects all over the place.

“So, let's look at it within a national interest picture that these exposés are in the interest of the country. … if in the process, perhaps how terrible a particular ruling party looks, emerges, well, let's say is collateral damage. It comes with it, but my primary objective here is to protect the public purse is to make sure that this country's democracy functions,” he said.

Watch the interview below:



Background

In the publication, Ablakwa alleged that Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, cousin of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was seeking to enforce payment of GH¢187.3 million judgment debt to his client, West Blue, even though the current government has varied the contract.

He said that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government did a value-for-money audit on the contract in question and conclude that West Blue rather owes the government of Ghana and not the other way round.

"The Kitchen Scandal is a tale of betrayal, bravado, double standards, influence peddling, dishonesty, greed, collusion, arm-twisting, naked nepotism and blatant rape of the public purse.

"The Kitchen Scandal will afford us a rare insight into how President Akufo-Addo’s “Kitchen Cabinet” operates and how destructive they have been to national progress," the MP’s introductory paragraphs in the exposé read.

Ablakwa also alleged that the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, has so far issued three legal opinions in favour of Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko.

The advice is in support of claims being made by Gabby's law firm, Africa Legal Associates (ALA) as it seeks to exact an amount of GH¢187m from the government for West Blue, a company previously contracted by the John Dramani Mahama government for port services.

Ablakwa in his latest investigative publication titled: "Kitchen scandal" cited how Gabby who had in 2015 sternly opposed the West Blue deal, had years on become lawyer for the company and was seeking damages for the company in respect of a contract that the current government varied after coming into office.

He accused Dame of issuing these opinions irregularly stating that the December 16, 2022 advice in particular was without recourse to "inputs from the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority as both institutions had not submitted their written arguments."

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