Presidential advisor in a conflict of interest situation at SADA?

It is said that any human being described as a chameleon needs to be feared.

For those who may not know a chameleon; it is a lizard-like creature that changes its colours to suite any environment it finds itself.

It is against this background that a leading member of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) has described a senior advisor to President John Dramani Mahama, Dr. Sulley Gariba, as a human-chameleon.

The PNC insider who declined to be named for now, made damning revelations about Dr. Sulley Gariba.

Explaining the chameleon nature of Dr. Gariba, he said “He (Sulley) in 2000 tried to be a running-mate to Mr. Goozi Tanoh of the National Reform Party (NRP). In 2003, the same Sulley Gariba tried, unsuccessfully, to become the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples National Convention (PNC).

In 2005, he (Sulley) confirmed on Joy FM’s current affairs programme, Newsfile, that he became a special advisor to former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s Chief Advisor, Ms. Mary Chinnery-Hesse.

As if that wasn’t enough; in 2008, Dr. Gariba also tried, but unsuccessfully, to become a running-mate to the late President John Evans Atta-Mills. This is the man, who is one of President John Mahama’s chief advisors," the PNC source concludes.

From the preceding paragraphs, it is only important that President Mahama take note of the chameleon nature of his chief advisor, who cannot escape culpability, with regards to the current state of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA).

As a consultant to SADA, Dr. Sulley Gariba was paid £26,400 for a 12 month period (i.e. from November 1st, 2009 to 31st October, 2010) when checks reveals that he was the Development Policy Advisor at the Vice President, John Dramani Mahama’s office, where the DFID funding for the establishment of SADA was administered.

Apart from getting paid for his consultancy work (Institute for Policy Alternative-IPS), documents in possession of The Informer reveal that Dr. Sulley Gariba was very key in the disbursement of the DFID fund meant for the running of SADA.

The question therefore is, was Dr. Sulley Gariba in a conflict of interest situation or, was genuinely paid?

Readers should stay tuned for updates on how some funny disbursements were made from the office of the then Vice President, John Mahama, in the name of SADA.