GHACEM’s "Missing $17m"

Who Received The Cheque And Where Did It go?

For anybody to say that ex-SCANCEM Officials’ assertion that their scandalous bribery activities did not benefit their business interest in the country, that person must reconsider his/her view.

Reports reaching the Weekend Crusading GUIDE indicate that $17,000,000 being the cost of the remaining 35 percent shares the Ghana Government disposed of in GHACEM in 1999 to SCANCEM of Norway, cannot be traced as at now.

In 1992, Government sold its 2,800,000 shares in GHACEM to the same company for US$4,074,000, under a Share Sale and Purchase Agreement; this was dated August 5, 1992. The money was lodged at the Ecobank in Accra.

However, a reliable source at the Auditor-General’s outfit has disclosed to this paper that all efforts to trace the whereabouts of the $17,000,000 have proved futile.

“My brother, it is sickening; there are no documents covering this money, it simply cannot be traced and it has been eight years since this money was paid to the Ghana Government”, lamented this official at the Auditor-General’s Department.

This paper’s painstaking investigations, however, revealed that a powerful lady in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) (name withheld for now) took delivery of the $17,000,000 cheque issued by SCANCEM.

Recently, this paper broke the story on the local front that Mr. and Mrs. Rawlings and one time Presidential Advisor to Mr. Rawlings, Mr. P.V. Obeng were beneficiaries of bribe monies totalling over four million United States dollars, received from SCANCEM to sustain its (SCANCEM’s) monopoly in the cement industry.

The three people have, however, issued strong statements denying the reports which reflected an-ongoing court proceedings in Norway.

Tor Egil Kjelsaas, a former SCANCEM African representative, was dragged to court on October 20, 2005 by the new owners of SCANCEM for theft.

During the court proceedings, Kjelsaas claimed that he paid millions of dollars to some West African leaders and politicians to pave the way for SCANCEM to establish monopoly in the West African countries, namely: Ghana, Togo and Nigeria.

These bribe monies were said to have been paid from 1993 to 1998.

TESTIFYING IN COURT, MR. GERHAD HEILBERG, A SCANCEM OFFICIAL BASED IN GHANA AT THE TIME, SAID RAWLINGS AND HIS WIFE WERE AMONG THOSE WHO RECEIVED CONSIDERABLE AMOUNTS OF MONEY FROM SCANCEM.

Per G. Jacobsen, a former SCANCEM Finance Chief, said bribery in Ghana and Africa was done by cash payments. Giving his testimony, Tor Nygaard, the immediate past Management Director of SCANCEM, who claimed he effected the payments, said they paid politicians, the party and the port authorities.

Nygaard maintained that SCANCEM’s monopoly status and the bribes were connected.

Kjelsaas was reported to have calculated how much SCANCEM earned on its bribery activities and in one of the court documents entitled “Extraordinary Profit”, he had quantified the profit in 1990s to the tune of 109 million dollars”

As at 1991 the Government of Ghana (GoG) owned 75 percent of the shares in GHACEM; the remaining 25 percent was held by SCANCEM (24.5%) together with Dr. J.A. Addison (0.5%).

In 1992, the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC) disposed of 35 percent of the GoG shares to SCANCEM, and in 1999, the remaining GoG shares were sold to SCANCEM again.

Stay tuned for more developments on the SCANCEM bribery allegations