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Law School Buried in Fraud

Thu, 9 Aug 2007 Source: Ghanaian Chronicle

An audit report the General Legal Council has blown the lid over the boss of the suspended law school boss Mr. Kwaku Ansah- Asare, and turned up mountains of evidence of impropriety against him.

The scandal soaked report of June 2007 dwelt on the 'Procurement of Books valued at ¢8.37 billion without orders' and noted that there was a wholesale absence of unsubstantiated payments of c203 million worth of books.

Quoting the relevant Financial Administration Regulations FAR 48 (2) 2004, LI 1802 section 48(2) the auditors observed that the Secretary of the Board of legal education, Miss Linda Doku who is married to a pastor and a close associate of Mr. Ansah- Asare, had been effecting huge cash payments. The cheques were written in the name of the secretary of the BLE, for payment to be effected. The excess cash payment were said to be of the directives of the director through memos, The Audit service condemned the practice which they said discouraged banking and exposes the school to all kinds of risks and recommended that the General Legal Council and the Board of Legal Education should desist from dealing excessively in cash transaction and ensure compliance with prescribed regulations, 48(2).

Quoting section 49(1) of the regulations, the auditor again observed that no purchase orders stating title, edition volume, quantity and author were issued by the General Legal Council and the Board of Legal Education, to both local and foreign books suppliers for books procured amounting to c8.37.'

'The situation could lead to suppliers dumping their non selling or slow moving books on GLC/BLE. Also in the absence of specification as to goods required, the GLC/ BLE would not obtain value for money since procurements would not be in its interest'.

The auditors recommended that 'purchase orders indicating specification of goods required must be issued out to supplier anytime purchases were made to enable the council obtain value for money in its procurement dealings.'

In the face of all this, probably on the blind side of some members of the General legal council, members votes 5- 2 for the return of Kwaku Ansa -Asare, in a heated meeting in which Mrs. Justice Emelia Adjepong, wife of Mr. B.J Darocha, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Readwide Limited moved the motion for his return to wind or tidy up for the appointment of a substantive Director of the premier institution for the training of lawyers. Mrs. Adepong motion was seconded by Dr. B.K Anane, a member of the council and former Tafohene.

In their report they discovered that Linda Doku acting on Ansah asare engaged in a mass of acts that offended sections of the Financial regulations in the lodgement of cash into Stanbic bank account of Ansa Asare and Co. amounting to over c410million in the books ordered from Sweet and Maxwell in the United Kingdom.

There was no evidence of a payee for the c100,000,000.00 paid for the architectural drawing of a building for the law school. All these have come out at the time a new Chief Justice has just being sworn in and as the overall boss of the General Legal Council, it the report would certainly be addressed to her and would represent a test of her resolve to fight corruption which has been so comprehensively being exposed by no less an institution than The State Audit Commission.

Whether she has received the audit report is a given, and whether she would freeze the return of Ansa Asare to head the law School in the face of the overwhelming evidence against him that convinced Mrs. Adjepong to move a motion to smuggle him on board for a short while will determine how the nation views her.

Source: Ghanaian Chronicle
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