'Prof. Dua Agyeman is a thief, dishonest and unfit for his job' - NDC slams

The Chairman of the Audit Service Board, Professor Edward Dua Agyeman, has been described as a thief, corrupt and a man lacking the integrity to be holding his current position.

General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, at a press conference on Tuesday described Professor Dua Agyeman as a man with bad record.

He recounted how the board chair was allegedly sanctioned by the Ghana Institute of Chartered Accountants for allegedly forging an audit report for a company in 1983. ''How can you ask a thief to go chase a thief? This is impossible. We [NDC] were amazed when Professor Dua Agyeman was appointed the board chair.

It is shocking for President Akufo-Addo to appoint him despite being aw3are of his record as a dishonest man.'' He was reacting to a forensic audit report conducted into some state institutions including the Ghana Gas Company.

The sum involved in the malfeasance at the Ghana National Gas Company, under the management of George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, according to the report is close to GHC400 million. Included in this is an alleged financial loss to the nation in respect of the purchase of helicopters from China National Aero Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC).

According to the summary of the audit report, the helicopters were “never…used for the purpose of its purchase”, causing a financial loss of $54,800,000 to the state. Also, equipment for the helicopters were never delivered even though a sum of $5,958,366.76 was paid as part of the contract price. Again, a sum of $300,000 paid for abnitio training cost was “not fully utilised for its intended purpose.”

The summary audit report also captures procurement irregularities of GHC34, 451,650.22 and GHC42, 351,110.17 respectively involving contracts with Memphis Metropolitan Limited and Kingpok Company Limited. The report further cites procurement irregularities in contracts with Worral Lees and Associates and Technip UK Ltd and another payment to Tullow Ghana Ltd involving the sums of GHC1, 713, 375, 21 and $4,108,378.60 respectively.

The last procurement irregularity involves a contract of GHC6, 688,986.56 awarded to Adeabs Catering Services. Reacting to the report, Mr Nketiah described the report as fake, which was conducted by fake auditors with state resources amounting to $6.8 million.

“The NDC has credible information that an amount of at least $6.8million has so far being paid by the NPP government under President Akufo-Addo’s watch to these private firms to carry out work that’s already being done or has been completed by state agencies.”

He added “the taxpayers’ money is being spent on state agencies like the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO), the Special Prosecutor’s Office, the Auditor General’s Department and the Attorney General’s. Any of these [institutions] could have carried out these audits.” Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah slammed the ruling government for using its operatives to denigrate former appointees of former President John Dramani Mahama.

He also claimed that one of the helicopters used by Vice President Bawumia to distribute relief items formed part of the helicopters bought by the former administration. He further slammed Professor Dua Agyemang saying, he is dishonest and vindictive and acting in an irresponsible, illegal manner and responsible for the miss-governance in Ghana.

He further charged government to fight the ‘’one-one-corruption scandal by speedily, thoroughly and properly investigating the Kelni GVG and the Ministry of Communications scandal, the StarTimes deal, the $2.5 million GPS scandal, the National Identification scandal, the alleged Nyantakyi corruption scandal exposed by investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas among others. ''We should be serious in the fight against corruption.

We cannot joke with corruption. We have to be serious about the fight against corruption. We are appealing to government to account to Ghanaians, show us details on the companies employed to conduct the fake forensic audit.'' He concluded by stressing that, former appointees of the NDC are law abiding but will not subject themselves to illegal audit firms when they already cooperating with EOCO on same matter.