Felled Tree Cost Gov't C3 million

...SFO Takes Over ?3 Billion Scandal

The Serious Fraud Officer (SFO) has taken over the investigations into the alleged case of ?3 billion financial scandal which rocked the Ghana Free/Zones Board (GFZB) during the short tenure of Mr Kwadwo Atuahene, the immediate past director of the GFZB.

This follows the completion of forensic audit into the tenure of Mr Atuahene ordered by the Board of Directors of GFDC following accusation of reckless spending during his tenure.

The Acting Director of GFZB, Mr Andy Appiah-Kubi disclosed this in an interview with “The Evening news” in Accra. According to Mr Appiah-Kubi, although the SFO was yet to complete its investigations, the Board has taken the necessary steps to identify operational lapses, if any.

The SFO is probing allegations that the ex-Director bloated the expenditure on renovation works carried out on his official residence and the GFZB’s offices located at Cantonments. A tree that was allegedly felled in his residence also cost the GFZB over ?3 million. The residence in question is directly opposite that of the Rawlings’ at Ridge in Accra, where the Belize national, Albert Hamid Odinga, took refuge before his arrest in June, last year.

The SFO is also investigations that Mr Atuahene endorsed huge sums of money for spending without the approval of the Board of Directors. According to the Acting Director, the Board has re-designed its operational strategies, identified new targets and set new time frame for its activities. Mr Appiah-Kubi noted that it is the target of the Board to attract 10 new companies to the enclave at Tema.

He said utility services at the Tema business enclave need to reach an advance stage so as to enable the President’s Special Initiative to take off before the end of 2002.

Mr Appiah-Kubi disclosed that the current agreement between the Business Focus of Malaysia and Ghana Government is under review. He said Government would re-negotiate with Business Focus to enable some more lands to be secured for development purposes.