NPP man petitions Akufo-Addo after court orders auctioning of his properties

An activist of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Chris Azawodie, his wife and children have allegedly been bundled out of their home after his two residential properties were allegedly forcibly taken over and auctioned at a paltry price on a dubious court order.

Mr. Azawodie, a businessman, made this known in separate petitions to President Akufo-Addo and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), saying that on Monday, September 4, personnel from the Ghana Police Service “sealed off both properties, unceremoniously throwing me, my wife, my children and other dependants out on the streets.”

The addresses of the two properties as contained in the petition documents – which DAILY GUIDE managed to obtain – are House K4C and House K4D, both located at the Manet Palms gated community at East Legon in Accra.

According to the petition to the IGP, “This action was taken immediately after a Certificate of Purchase had been pasted on each property.”

Facts

Mr Azawodie said in the petition addressed to the president that “In 2007 – ahead of the 2008 presidential elections which Mr. Akufo-Addo contested – he (petitioner) secured a contract from the then Minister of Education, Papa Owusu Ankomah, to import 15,000 motorcycles for onward distribution to teachers working under the Ghana Education Service, at heavily discounted costs payable in installments.

“Actually, I entered into this contract simply because its ultimate aim was to win the support of teachers at the then impending elections and thus, contribute to your (Akufo-Addo’s) winning the presidential poll.

“Having used a substantial sum of my own money to win the contract tender bid, I was forced to seek financial support for its execution, including both official and unofficial costs for opening the requisite letter of credit from National Investment Bank. Consequently, I was able to secure $100,000 from the then Chief of Staff, Kwadwo Mpiani, through Tommy Amematekpor, who also added a further $100,000.”

This, according to the petitioner, was to facilitate the opening of the Letter of Credit with financing from NIB.

He indicated that the then Managing Director of NIB, Daniel Gyimah, was able to get the bank to finance the opening of an L/C through the intervention of a deputy minister.

Through the arrangement, a total of 7,500 motorcycles were imported through the L/C finance as the first phase of the entire importation project, with the L/C value being $5.2 million.

Deliberate Refusal

However, Mr Azawodie indicated that when the first 7,500 motorcycles arrived in the country in February 2008, Mr. Gyimah refused to release them for onward distribution to teachers as planned and the bikes were rather warehoused at his (Azawodie’s) expense.

With the demurrage bills rising, the petitioner indicated that he was forced to seek the assistance of the late Vice President, Aliu Mahama but he reportedly declined to intervene on the basis that both Messrs Amematekpor and Mpiani were already involved in the matter.

“Upon the change of government to an NDC administration in January 2009, the newly appointed Managing Director of NIB, Dr. Kuranchie, who had been made aware of the situation, called for a meeting in March, at which his predecessor, Mr. Gyimah, was also present,” the petitioner said.

“Your Excellency, at this meeting, when questioned by Dr. Kuranchie as to why NIB had refused to release the motorbikes to me, Mr. Gyimah claimed it was because it was too close to the general elections,” he pointed out.

“Dr. Kuranchie then opted to release the items to me ostensibly because Mr. Gyimah’s excuse was no longer tenable. However, the delay and the resultant demurrage of about $500,000 had already rendered me virtually bankrupt, a situation which could not be salvaged by the eventual sale of the items,” he bemoaned.

Legal Suit

“Consequently, I sued NIB for damages in 2009, a case which I eventually won in the courts in 2015,” according to him.

But while judgement on the case was ongoing, the petitioner indicated that Mr. Amematekpor sued him (petitioner), demanding payment of the $200,000 originally contributed by him and Mr. Mpiani.

“By sleight of hand, he (Amematekpor) tried to convince the court to arrange for the sale of my two properties at East Legon in Accra – one of which me and my family reside in – at the grossly undervalued price of below $100,000, despite the fact that the two properties have been professionally valued at a combined value of about $500,000.”