Two Ex-Ministers Fight Over Divested Company

(P)NDC ‘Kalabule Divestiture’ Revisited (3)

Two Ex-Ministers Fight Over Divested Company

…Story Originally culled from‘Daily Graphic’, Monday, September 24, 2001, Pages 1&3

SOURCE: NEW CRUSADING GUIDE

Two former Ministers of State are fighting over the ownership of a company they bought from the State.

It is alleged that one of them used a frontman for the purchase of the company.

Alhaji Ibrahim Adam, former Minister of Food and Agriculture in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, and Mr. Adam Kaleem, former Deputy Secretary of Agriculture in charge of Northern Region in the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) era, are at war over the ownership of the divested State Fishing Corporation at Tamale and Yendi.

Mr. Adam used the name Hakson Construction Company to jointly buy the State Fishing Corporation in Tamale and Yendi with Mr. Kaleem at ¢46 million in 1994 and renamed it KADA Investment.

Mr. Kaleem went to the office of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Tamale to complain that Alhaji Adam had given instructions to some people to organise armed groups to lock him out. The latter claims that the former has no shares in the company.

DOCUMENTS MADE AVAILABLE TO THE GNA, HOWEVER, SHOWED THAT MR. KALEEM OWNS 10 PER CENT SHARES WHILE HAKSON CONSTRUCTION COMPANY HAS 90 PER CENT SHARES, IN THE COMPANY.

According to the documents, ERIC NELSON ALLEGEDLY FRONTED FOR ALHAJI ADAM AND SIGNED THE DOCUMENTS ON HIS BEHALF, WHILE ALHAJI ADAM ALLEGEDLY HID HIS ASSOCIATION WITH HAKSON CONSTRUCTION COMPANY WHEN THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND ADMINISTRATIVE JUSTICE (CHRAJ) INVESTIGATED HIM.

Mr. Kaleem said although Alhaji Adam paid ¢27.6 million, he also paid ¢20 million, in addition to using his bank loan to renovate the building, which had almost collapsed, with the understanding that his shares would be upgraded accordingly.

He said it was only two weeks ago that Alhaji Adam signed a letter as the Chairman of KADA Board, dismissing him as the Managing Director of the company.

The letter challenged him to prove his ownership of shares in the company.

Mr. Kaleem showed the GNA documents on the acquisition of the company, indicating that he signed and took delivery of the company and renovated it alone.

He said Alhaji Adam used the name of the company to register a fishing vessel he bought, adding: “It was only a few months ago that I got to know about the vessel when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) wanted to know about its operations”.

Alhaji Adam told the GNA in Accra that the Board of KADA dismissed Mr. Kaleem for mismanagement and gross insubordination.

He said when Mr. Kaleem was asked at a meeting of the Board to account for his stewardship, he became angry and walked out.

Mr. Ibrahim Yakubu Hardy, Mr. Eric Nelson and Alhaji Adam, all directors of the company, signed the letter of dismissal.

Alhaji Adam said Mr. Kaleem was offered 10 per cent of the shares, but he failed to pay for them.

HE SAID THERE WAS NOTHING ILLEGAL ABOUT USING PROXIES, AND CHALLENGED MR. KALEEM TO GO TO COURT.

Reached on telephone to clarify other allegations made against him, Alhaji Adam discounted claims that he hid documents pertaining to the acquisition of the company from the CHRAJ, reports Ransford Tetteh. HE EXPLAINED THAT AT THE TIME OF THE CHRAJ PROBE IN THE MID 1990S, HE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE COMPANY, WHICH WAS ACQUIRED BY HIS BROTHER.

ALHAJI ADAM SAID IT WAS ONLY IN 1999 THAT HIS BROTHER’S INTEREST IN THE COMPANY WAS TRANSFERRED TO HIM BY A POWER OF ATTORNEY, FOLLOWING A MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN HIS BROTHER AND MR. KALEEM.

He said it is not true that Mr. Kaleem contributed ¢20 million for the purchase of the company, adding that “THE ¢20 MILLION HE PAID REPRESENTED ACCUMULATED EARNINGS OF THE COMPANY AND NOT HIS SHARES”.

He described as mischievous claims by Mr. Kaleem that the company owns and operates a fishing vessel.

He stated that the company has not operated the said vessel since it was purchased in 1997. It, therefore, decided that the vessel should be disposed of.

On the claims by Mr. Kaleem that he used a bank loan to repair the building, Alhaji Adam said, the only problem with the building at the time of purchase was with the ceiling, for which Mr. Kaleem claimed he repaired at the cost of ¢8 million. He said the money was paid back to him. *(Credit: Daily Graphic, Monday, September 24, 2001 – Pages 1 & 3)