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General News of Wednesday, 8 February 2012

Source: The Informer

BNI To Grill Wereko-Brobby

For Wilfully Causing Financial Loss To The

State In The Acquisition Of The Toy SRP

Intelligence Desk Report

Intelligence reports available to The Informer as of press time yesterday has it that, the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) will soon pick up Dr. Charles Yves Wereko-Brobby, for questioning, following his role played in the importation of a certain Strategic Reserve Plant (RSP) that culminated into the nation losing over $31million.

According to this paper’s insider sources, the decision by the BNI to clamp down on the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Volta Region Authority (VRA), Dr. Wereko-Brobby aside the concerns being raised by the general public, as well as petitions received from some officers at VRA calling for a thorough investigations into the purchase of the said Strategic Reserve Plant (RSP), is institution’s effort to recover all state funds that have been misused by officials of state. “Dr. Charles Yves Wereko-Brobby, Ghanaians believe, has caused this nation a great loss as regards the major role he played in the acquisition, installation and later, the dismantling of the SRP units, so it is only just in line with the BNI’s constitutional mandate to invite him to assist in investigations, and if found culpable, made to face the full severity of his action”, the source added. “President Mills-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, is very determined and has so far demonstrated that it is poised in fighting corruption that has become so endemic in our public institutions, so the move by the BNI to pick up officials of state who are believed to have engaged in some form of financial misappropriation, like the Wereko-Brobby case, is a step in the direction, in order to bring sanity in the way public funds are spent”, the source pointed out.

Asked why this time, he said the BNI will not rush to invite people for questioning in a matter when it has no solid basis, so the time frame in this case is completely beside the point, and what is of relevance, the source suggests, is that the BNI is in, to investigate the former CEO of VRA under the erstwhile Kufuor administration for the reasons indicated above; and that should be of concern to all and sundry.

“The BNI will not act on hearsay in order to unnecessarily inconvenience or infringe on the rights of people until it is satisfied with its own internal preparation, hence the delay till now”, the source concludes.

It would be recall that Dr. Charles Yves Wereko-Brobby, then the CEO of the VRA, made Ghana lose whopping amount of $31million, following his decision to import a Strategic Reserve Plant (SRP); a venture which never saw the light of day. The Plant, expected to become operational from March 1, 2002 and to solve some related problems at the VRA, failed to materialized; yet the Government of Ghana (GoG) was made to cough out huge sums of money in that respect.

All the cost incurred in the procurement of SRP, installation and dismantling were all charged on the accounts of government, when the said plant did not even generated a kilowatt of power.

We support the decision by the BNI to investigate the purchase of the SRP unit and the strange circumstance under which it was later dismantled and sent back to the suppliers, as well as the financial burden it places on government at that time, for appropriate action.

The Informer humbly is appealing to the BNI to investigate all corrupt practices of the Kufuor regime and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book.