Short & Betty Hang Sepa-Yankey

It is said that the wheels of justice grind slowly. But it is also an undeniable fact that justice delayed is justice denied. The latter can be said to hold true in the matter of Dr. Sepa–Yankey and the investigation by the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRJ) into the Mabey & Johnson bribery allegation levelled against him and others. The fate of Dr. Sepa-Yankey and the other Ghanaian officials, who are mainly NDC persons, still hang in the balance several months after the investigations began last year. Things would certainly have been different for Dr Sepa-Yankey if CHRAJ had kept to its original plan according to information available to The Catalyst.

Intelligence information available to The Catalyst and confirmed by a source within CHRAJ indicates that if the Commission had rigidly followed its plan as regards how it intended making the findings of the Mabey & Johnson bribery investigations public, the fate of Dr Sepa-Yankey in particular would have been established by now.

Our information has it that CHRAJ originally planned to approach the investigations on individual basis by treating every one of the accused persons’ case on its own merit and releasing its findings to government accordingly.

Going by that arrangement, our source said, Dr Sepa-Yankey was one of the first persons whose investigation was concluded by CHRAJ. But just as the Commission was getting ready to release its finding on the former Health Minister, it got word from the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mrs. Betty-Mould Iddrisu, asking it to hold on until the entire investigations are concluded and one report issued to cover all the persons involved. This means therefore that Dr Yankey, just like the others, will have to wait for an unspecified time period before knowing his fate.

There have been widespread agitations that the Mabey & Johnson bribery investigation by CHRAJ is taking too long to conclude. But according to the Commissioner of CHRAJ, Mr. Francis Emile Short, this is the result of the delay in getting a prompt response from the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) regarding some requests made by his outfit for some documents. He said the documents would facilitate the investigations by CHRAJ.

But The Catalyst’s information has it that Commissioner Short’s press release on Monday fell short of the fact that indeed, the Commission has concluded its investigation of Dr Sepa-Yankey in particular and that the additional documents his office awaits from British SFO has absolutely nothing to do with the immediate past health minister.

The Catalyst’s information has it that Wednesday 20th January 2010 was the day the Attorney General and Minister of Justice made her intervention on behalf of government, asking CHRAJ to lump all the findings on the accused persons together in one report to government.

As it stands now, Dr. Yankey will have to wait, while his fate hangs in the balance, pending the overall completion of the investigations by CHRAJ, which certainly will take some time. Last Monday, Commissioner Short in a press release stated about the British SFO that “to date, the Commission has not received the relevant documents regarding its request for mutual legal assistance from the SFO through the Attorney General”.

Barely twenty four hours after Commissioner Short fired the statement to the Ghanaian press, the UK SFO responded by demanding to know the locus standing of the Commission, what the charges being investigated are among other things. This is a sign that the feet-dragging UK SFO has its ears firmly on the ground.

It would be remembered that the British SFO concealed the identities of the Directors of Mabey & Johnson, a steel bridge construction company, said to be involved in bribery in Ghana in the 1980s and 90s but named some Ghanaian officials accused of being beneficiaries of the alleged bribe monies. These officials however were not given any opportunity of defending themselves.

The Mabey & Johnson bribery allegations were made against Dr Sepa-Yankey, Brig-Gen. (rtd) Lord Attivor, Dr Ato Quarshie, Alhaji Boniface Abubakar Saddique, Mr. Kwame Peprah and Alhaji Amadu Seidu.

At the time the Mabey & Johnson bribery allegations were made, Dr Sepa-Yankey, who was minister of health was widely acclaimed to be one of the best ministers in the Mills government.