Edumadze's neck Deep In Premix Fuel Deal

The whistle-blowing campaign launched by the lone wolf member of the Central and Western regional Ministerial Committee on Premix fuel to expose the anthology of scandals which has engulfed distribution of premix fuel has fingered the Central Regional Minister, Isaac Edumadze is also steeped deal. Documents in the possession of The Chronicle indicate that in early December last year, a quantity of premix fuel was ordered under ?special orders? and consigned to Mr. Edumadze.

Dubbed ?farmers day special orders?, Mr. Kojo Mbir said Nii Ayi-Bonte and Mr. Okulley Nortey, both MPs and leading members of the ministerial committee, allegedly ?decreed? that profits from the sale of the fuel be paid to Mr. Edumadze who is not a fisherman. No reason was assigned, but later, the committee met and resolved to do away with the special orders since they had been used in the past to serve personal interests.


?Indeed, these special orders were not raised by the premix outlets themselves as the case should be, so when we assumed office, we decided to do away with them,? Mr. Mbir wrote in the petition he sent to the Minister of State in charge of fisheries.


According to Mr. Mbir?s document, Mr. Edumadze was also alleged to have made an attempt to collect ?20 million from the Local Premix Committee (LPC) at Komenda without any justifiable reason.


In a letter entitled ?Indiscipline and corruption in premix administration in the Central Region,? a former member of the LPC at Komemda, Nana Appiah Korang recounted how Edumadze attempted to use force to collect the ?20 million which was profit made by the LPC from the price increase in petroleum products.


?I strongly resisted this attempt by the regional minister and this resulted in my dismissal from the Komemda LPC. I however managed to use the ?20 million to purchase treasury bills which is now yielding a lot of profits for the community,? Appiah Korang wrote in his petition to the minister responsible for fisheries.


Nana Appiah told The Chronicle in an interview last week that to his chagrin, when he sent copies of his petition about the conduct of the regional minister and the corruption going on in the premix industry to both the Minister of Energy and the NPP General Secretary, they were returned to him by courier service because the two personalities could not be traced in Accra.

Korang, petitioner who is also a government appointee to the Komenda ?Edina- Eguafo district assembly, said immediately the new price for the petroleum products was announced, the regional committee on premix, which Edumadze headed, started to extort monies from the LPCs.


?The analysis of profits made on the sale of the premix indicated that the LPC?s share on each load of 13,500 liters is ?495,000 and the cost of each coupon is ?15,000,? Appiah Korang wrote.


He, however, said the regional committee reduced the LPC?s share by ?145,000 and at the same time charged them ?50,000 for coupons that they did not supply to the LPCs.


?I became furious and questioned Mohammed Mustafa, Coordinator and Agyeman Kessie, the financial secretary. They made it clear to me that the money was stolen to finance NPP.


This statement was made in the presence of the DCE, the presiding member and other government appointee-assembly members at the DCE?s residence. In fact, I objected vehemently to the reason given because it was diametrically false and misleading,? he said in the petition.