NDC Threaten Jake & Bartels With Legal Action

The Minority Leader, Mr Alban Bagbin, has threatened to take legal action against two ministers in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration over the Special Audit Report which allegedly made adverse findings against them.

The two, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs, and Hon Kwamena Bartels, Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma North and Minister for Private Sector Development, are alleged to have received ?150 million and ?162 million towards the Castle renovation works and repair works of some government bungalows, respectively.

Although Bartels has not publicly spoken on the issue, the Minister of Works and Housing, Hon Yaw Barimah has since held a press conference to deny the allegations, but the minority continues to stick to its guns.

In an interview last Friday, Hon Bagbin, MP for Nadowli North, said the press conference by the Works and Housing minister Hon. Yaw Barimah, the MP for Koforidua, dodged the fundamental issues for which reason the minority is considering a legal action or other actions to compel the two ministers to defend themselves and not allow the government to do that on their behalf.

He Expressed regret that the courts are being controlled by the executive, thus making it difficult for the minority to expect any favourable outcome from the Judiciary over the affair.

Hon. Alban Bagbin alleged that the Executive controls the steps the minority wish to take adding that there are so many cases that the minority had depended on the state legal machinery, but because there?s no healthy balance between the arms of government,? according to him, ?the Executive has been holding sway over the Judiciary.?

He also described as false, Mr. Edward Dua-Agyeman, the Auditor-General?s claims that he was not aware of the Audit Report.

According to him, Mr. Dua-Agyeman the Acting Auditor-General, knew about the Audit Report because it was sent to him for his comments.

He accused Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey of having ?chopped? ?150 million. On Bartels, he said the former Works and Housing minister, caused the state to lose ?162,565,525for authorising the renovation of four (4) bungalows already sold out by the government.