Govt Should Do Something to retrieve billions

THE CHAIRMAN OF the five-man committee that probed various frauds and scandals in the Ghana Water Company Ltd. (GWCL), Justice N.Y.B. Adade, has observed that it would be a pity if nothing was done to retrieve the billions of cedis embezzled and punish the culprits.

"If they (the government) decide not to do anything about our report it would be a pity," the retired Supreme Court judge said when reached for an interview on phone.

Justice Adade compiled his report which exposed fraudulent deals that gulped up over ?50 billion of the tax payer's money as far back as December 21, 2001.

On the retrieval of the embezzled monies, the committee chairman pointed out that it is for the sector minister to decide on how to do it.

Since fraud and other criminal acts are involved in the various deals, he also directed that the Minister for Works and Housing refer the cases to the Attorney-General's Department for advice.

As readers would recall, the Chronicle, on stumbling on a copy of the Adade report, has published five out of the ten sections into which the probe was divided.

Since then, affected parties and individuals have reacted to some of our stories, not contesting the authenticity of the report but complaining that the committee had not given them a fair hearing or ruling.

But when it was put to Mr. Adade, he denied knowledge of any objections to the committee's findings and recommendations.

"We made sure we dealt with figures and facts. We have not got any reaction from the ministry or anybody."

He explained that the committee studied each section and made recommendations specific to the section, hence it was recommended more than once in the report for some officials to be sacked.

Apart from the contract for the supply of domestic water metres, purchase of printed stationery, procurement of Honda motorcycles and procurement of cast iron pipe fittings which have been published in series already, one other area in which some GWCL officials milked the company dry is the purchase of khaki suiting materials.

Those who wreaked the havoc on the company were Messrs. A. B. Adjei, Ag. Chief Manager (materials), Kofi Quarshie, purchasing officer, Henry Forson, storekeeper, and Attah Poku, senior audit assistant, the quartet who succeeded in causing a financial loss of ?348 million to the GWCL.

The committee recommended that A. B. Adjei should refund the amount of ?348m to GWCL and be dismissed from the company; Kofi Quarshie, Henry Forson and Atta Poku who also falsified store documents in connection with this fraud be referred to the Attorney General's Department for further action.

Contained in Section Seven of the Justice Adade Committee of Enquiry on GWCL which was completed in December 2001, was reference to a Seth Yeboah of ALIFAX Limited that supplied Blue-Black, White and Brown Khaki as well as other suiting materials at costs more than six hundred per cent (600%) of what obtained in the open market.

According to the report, the Ashanti Regional Officer of GWCL on November 16, 2000 bought same khaki materials with the length of 18" x 60" at ?6,000 per yard while head office was purchasing some with equal lengths for ?36,000.

At the committee, the reasons given by A. B. Adjei for accepting that exorbitant price included his assertion that the supplier was prepared to accept Local Purchase Order (LPO) and deliver before payment unlike open market retailers who demanded payment before delivery.

Again, he told the committee that provision was made for financial charges as a result of delay in payment, adding that the supplier had enough stocks to guarantee continuous supply as against the open market retailers.

When Messrs. Kofi Quarshie and Henry Forson appeared before the committee, the said Seth Yeboah and his ALIFAX Limited supplied khaki and suiting materials of 54" x 60" yard lengths and that their sizes accounted for their higher prices.

"But they could not be supported by any documentary evidence from the stores," stated the report.

The stores manager Mr. E. N. A. Amarteifio in a letter dated October 5, 2001 to the committee, stated that the April to August 2000 purchases had a length of 18" x 60".

This contradicted what A. B. Adjei and cronies told the committee that those they purchased at the artificially expensive prices were of 54" x 60" yard lengths.

"Evidences, both verbal and documentary, contradicted what A. B. Adjei said about the prices of the materials," said the report.

In their scramble to cash in on the acquisition of materials to dupe GWCL, Kofi Quarshie and Henry Forson falsified requisition documents to create the impression that there were urgent needs for materials.

The report stated that while the Ashanti Region office of GWCL in August 2000 made a request for 2001, the two managed to create the impression that supplies were required urgently in the region.

This, they did, by doctoring the actual requisition form. Forson admitted having done that before the committee.

As usual, ALIFAX Limited which was described as "traditional suppliers" did not face any competition in bidding for the contract.

The report established that the kind of relationship that existed between the other companies that bidded for that contract, clearly showed that Seth Yeboah's ALIFAX Ltd. was billed to supply the materials. It could even be possible that all belonged to Seth Yeboah.

The two other companies, SAKISCO Enterprise and FAGO Enterprise used, a common telephone number and the same post office box number. This was deduced from their letterheads.