Houses belonging to the erstwhile State Gold Mining Corporation (SCMG) are reportedly being given out for sale to former employees without proper authorization and due process.
The beneficiaries are said to include the chairman of the Ghana Minerals Commission, which assumed the functions of the SCMG and the former Group Management Accountant of the corporation who allegedly acquired a three-bedroom bungalow each at Tarkwa without the knowledge and approval of the Board.
The Chronicle investigations showed that the Commission's chairman, Mr. Francis Awuah-Kyeremanteng and Mr. K. Anokye-Yesuo, the former group accountant, acquired the property with the connivance of an accountant at the Minerals Commission.
The Chronicle sources indicated that, even though the two knew that it was only the Minerals Commission Board, which could authorize the sale of property under its jurisdiction, they swerved the board and annexed the houses, which are situated on the Coronation Hill, Tarkwa, adjacent to the commission's guest house.
The Chronicle gathered that the Board must approve disposal of such property, with a government auctioneer placing price tags on the "saleable" property.
However, to facilitate their illegal acquisition, their application letters were addressed to one Mr. Ofei, an accountant at the commission, who is said to be the official representative of the commission in Accra and who allegedly pegged the chairman's house at ? 40 million.
Mr. Awuah-Kyeremanteng's letter applying for allocation of the house, dated August 20, 2001,was addressed to Mr. Ofei. It said in part: "I have observed that two SGMC bungalows on Coronation Hill, Tarkwa, previously occupied by Interoc Ghana Limited, may or be about to become vacant.
"I therefore hereby apply to be considered to purchase the three-bedroom bungalow, which is adjacent to the Minerals Commission's guest house."
Mr. Anokye-Yesuo's, application letter is dated March 2, 2001. He works at the Minerals Commission still.
The Chronicle learned that Mr. Awuah-Kyeremanteng has rented the house to Lycopodium for $1,000 a month.
On Monday, Mr. Awuah - Kyeremanteng spoke to this reporter on phone and said The Chronicle had been misled because the SGMC Board did authorise that the house be sold to former employees.
He said he saw nothing wrong with him acquiring it because, having worked for 15 years, he too was entitled to the offer, adding: " even people who worked for two and three years benefited."
When asked whether in 2001, the defunct SGMC Board's powers superseded the current Minerals Commission Board, which he chairs, he blurted, 'I can't hear you," and the line went off.
