Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has tongue-lashed private legal luminary, Gabby Asare-Otchere Darko amidst the simmering tension between them over the GH¢187,356,969 Kitchen Scandal.
He wondered why Gabby Asare-Otchere Darko will think Ghanaians will settle for what he described as lies spewed about the West Blue contract which was terminated in 2013 and re-awarded.
Speaking on Good Morning Ghana and monitored by GhanaWeb, the lawmaker said it is clear from the August 5, 2015 agreement that a condition precedent had not been met so the rewarding of the contract with West Blue had not become effective.
According to Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, "After they terminated the agreement in 2013, they asked West Blue to hang around under a separate arrangement until they are replaced and that was what the payment was for. It is clear from the 4th August 2015 agreement that a condition precedent had not been met so the contract had not become effective..."
He stated that, "Gabby wants us to believe that I have rather strengthened the case of West Blue by leaking these documents and that they have been looking for this Attorney General's legal opinion and couldn't find it. Gabby must think that we are some Zombies, that we are some yo yos...his own letters, for example, this letter Gabby wrote on the 3rd of May, 2023 to the Board Chair of the Ghana Revenue Authority...so Gabby knows that GRA, Ministry of Finance have not written to the Attorney General. How did he know?"
In an earlier publication, Ablakwa alleged that Gabby, cousin of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was seeking to enforce payment of GHC187 million transaction to his client, West Blue, even though the current government has varied the contract.
In a response issued on Friday, August 4, 2023, Gabby maintained that his firm was engaged in a rather legitimate duty on behalf of their client.
He indicated that his firm has since April 2021 been engaged by West Blue Ghana Limited to assist the company recover an amount of GH¢187,356,969 being outstanding payments due it from the Government of the Republic of Ghana under a contract dated August 4, 2015, and executed between West Blue, on one hand, and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF), on the other hand.
ESA/KPE