We discussed kickbacks - Mrs. Anane

MS. ALEXANDRIA ANANE, star witness in the matter of Raymond Archer vrs Dr. Richard Anane, before the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has debunked testimonies given by two witnesses, Hon. Kofi Poku Adusei and Mr. Collins Kwame Doudu Bonsu who testified separately before the Commission.

Testifying before the Commission via video conferencing on the 5 & 6 this month and led in evidence by Lead Counsel for the Commission, Mr. P.E Bondzie Simpson, Alexandria refuted claims by Mr. Collins Doudu Bonsu that he remitted a total amount of $72,300 to her on his personal account and not that of his friend, Dr. Richard Anane.

According to her, ?Richard was aware of every transfer of money and would call to tell me this person was bringing me this amount and later call to check whether I have received the money.?

She stressed that Mr. Doudu could not have remitted those monies to her on his own behalf, saying, ?I will find it hard to believe,? adding that he told her he was remitting only about $800 a month to his family in the United states.

She maintained that, ?it all came from Richard?, adding, ?I wouldn?t do that for anyone.? When further told that Mr. Doudu said he had done it for his bossom friend, she replied that he was a liar.

According to her, when she first came to Ghana in September 2001, Dr. Anane introduced Mr. Doudu to her as his friend and personal assistant, contrary to what Mr. Doudu told the Commission that he appropriated to himself the title special assistant and that the minister never addressed him as such.

She continued that subsequent to that, he became an intermediary between herself and Dr. Anane in matters of their relationship, particularly towards the maintenance of Nicholas Anane, their son.

As such, she noted that she almost saw Mr. Bonsu on daily basis between the period April and May 2003 that she lived in Accra and also met him once on a flight to Baltimore, on which occasion he handed her $5,000 cash.

?If it is suggested to you that Dr. Anane never instructed Collins to be his intermediary or agent on his behalf, but on his own behalf, what will be your reaction?? In response to this question from Dr. Simpson, she answered, ?that would be absolutely wrong. I can?t imagine anyone acting on his own behalf,? in relation to the transfers.

Ms Anane also debunked the two witnesses? testimony that they never separately or together with her discussed any issue concerning a purported $20,000 kickback that the minister was said to have been expecting towards the maintenance of Alexandria and her son.

In his testimonies, Hon. Adusei said though he accompanied Mr. Doudu to the La Palm Beach Hotel in Accra to meet with Alexandria, he never took part in discussions between the two and did not even pay attention to their conversation hence could not recollect what they discussed.

On his part, though Mr. Doudu admitted meeting with Alexandria, he denied discussing the issue of the said amount of money.

In this respect, she told the Commission that she has been with the two at the La Palm Hotel, where they had lunch and discussed the issue of Dr. Anane, expecting to receive a kickback of $20,000 on an old certificate of contract towards the maintenance of herself and her son, Nicholas by the pool of the hotel.

She indicated also that Dr. Anane had personally and directly handed her various amounts of money on different occasions apart from those he ?orchestrated? through different people and various means all totaling about $120,000 over the period 2001 ? mid 2004, when she last received any money in support of her son.

When it was suggested to her that she had inflated the amount of monies she received from the minister, which she said covered various things such as traveling expenses and hotel bills among others, she responded in the negative.

On the issue of the World Health Monitor Programme (WHMP) on which she and her team came to Ghana and why the programme did not succeed, she pointed out that it was as a result of Mrs. Anane?s revelation of her relationship with Dr. Anane to her Director, Mr. James Nomack and telling him that nothing would come out of their project.

This, she noted annoyed and embarrassed her director, which eventually led to the collapse of the programme.

Also in respect of the National Identification System (NIS) that she showed interest in, she said she did not succeed because she did not meet the deadline.

Beginning with the cross-examination of Ms. Anane, Counsel for Dr. Anane, Mr. Jacob Acquah-Sampson asked whether he could refer to witness as Ms. O?Brien, to which she answered, ?No!, you can call me Alexandria or Alexandria Anane.?

When counsel further inquired about Nicholas, saying, ?how is Nicholas?? she said, ?you should ask Richard.?

Proceeding from a suggestion that Ms. Anane?s organization had no track record and that she forced herself into a relationship in order to gain support for it, she answered in the negative and added that there was a legal agreement and a Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU) to that effect.

As to whether she received any monetary support from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), she replied, ?absolutely not.

Not in the past, present or foreseeable future.?

Ms. Anane who admitted knowing Mr. Raymond Archer, Editor-In-chief of the Enquirer said she first got acquainted to him upon her decision to get to Dr. Anane through the media as a result of failure to reach the minister at a certain period in time.

According to her, she had placed over a hundred calls just to reach the minister and even through some of his colleagues in government, but all failed, hence her decision to use the media to call the minister?s attention to the neglect of his parental responsibilities.

She stated that she got Mr. Archer?s phone number through one Roland of Radio Gold in Accra and when asked why she got the number through Roland, she pointed out ?I assume that they work together.?

Also, she said she received an amount of about $500 from someone whose name she could not recollect on behalf on Mr. Archer and Roland to enable her maintain contact with them for their stories. This she explained was because she had indicated to them that she was at that point in time not financially sound to pay for the bills.

Though Alexandria agreed that a process was initiated between her and Dr. Anane and her self through appointed attorneys to determine a specific way of maintaining Nicholas, she denied that she was the one who made it impossible for the process to continue in her own interest. She however said she has filed an application for child support in the United States.

Finally, Ms. Anane became infuriated at the suggestion from Mr. Acquah-Sampson that her conduct towards the minister has been that of blackmail and calling her ?a blackmailer? and that she went to the press to compel the minister to meet her illegitimate demands.

This prompted her to say, ?This is a suggestion that makes no sense.? Hearing however continues on April 19 at the Commission.