…is the Lebanese Ambassador in support of the Building Scam?

The ‘saga of the returnee’, as KSM put it, is a trying and traumatic experience. The idea of going abroad, or to foreign lands to work, to make a life, save money, send money back home, send your children to the best school available, build a future and return home one day, is not a new one.

For decades, Ghanaians have travelled far afield in the bid for greener pastures. No Ghanaian who travels abroad, ever forgets home, and they all, long for the day when they can go back and make their relatives, and friends both envious and proud.

By now everybody in Ghana knows about the ‘building scam’ Some of you readers may even know somebody who has been a victim. The scam is designed to either kill off the victim, or force them to run out of Ghana again as quickly as they came home. We have all heard stories of long suffering Ghanaians abroad who slave in Macdonalds, or at jobs like Nursing Home attendants, car washers,cleaners and the like, save their hard earned money and send it home to build their dream home. Only to find when they get here after 15-20 years of sojourn in the wilderness of ‘abrokyir’, that their nephew, son, brother, best friend from school, has not only squandered the money on alcohol, women a new car.and his own wedding, but that the so called house, and even the land, do not even exist. It takes a man of extreme mental reserve and courage to not completely collapse and give up the ghost right there and then,
The building scam has lead to Ghanaians abroad refusing to trust their family and friends and looking elsewhere for support in building their dream house. Who better to fill this gap than a seemingly honest, educated, professional civil engineer to act as the Contractor, negotiate with the architect and supervise the construction of the intended dream home. Organisations like Alfa Rock Ghana Ltd, with its owner, manager Hasan El Hussein, profess to be able to undertake such contracts, and show the unwitting client, evidence of their work, dazzle them with professional standards of behavior and contract to complete jobs in specific time frames. This is exactly what they did to one unsuspecting Ghanaian working abroad, who paid them in excess of $40, 000 and came back to Ghana to find an uncompleted foundation, as the only evidence of their work.
The manager of this company, Hassan El Hussein, has refused to pay back the money and now claims that he actually did work totaling $39, 000. As the picture indicates this is obviously not the case, and he is now using the courts to avoid payment of the money he owes and surprisingly, the system allows him to roam free in Ghana whilst such a debt, and dishonesty finds no redress. The victim of this fraud an honest law abiding Ghanaian, is rather the one who now has to find the additional money to bring an action in court to retrieve his money.

And the questions are these. If the Ghanaian had been depending solely on this property as his dwelling, where would he be now? Or you might like to ask, why would any Lawyer worthy of the name, assume that it is appropriate to defend any and all criminal acts, or assist in the defrauding of a Ghanaian citizen? Are there no ethics involved in deciding who one takes on as a client, and who one defends, or is the almighty dollar the only decision maker?
Despite several appeals made to the Lebanese Community, and to the Lebanese Ambassador, this embarrassment to their good name is not only allowed to continue to parade around as if nothing has happened, but has actually been contracted by them to undertake other works around the Circle area of Accra, by a fellow Lebanese national, who is fully aware of the disgraceful behavior of the contractor he has hired.

Below is the letter sent the Ambassador
Joseph Roberts-Mensah
18 Travellers Close, Baatsona, Tema,
Tel. 2316590893
31 March 2011

Dear Mr. Ambassador,
RE: Complaint Against Lebanese Building Contractor-Hassan El Hussein
I regret to have to bring this matter to your attention, but find myself left with little alternative in view of the nature of the offence committed against me, and the fact that I am of the firm conviction that in doing so, I may be able to prevail upon your good offices to intervene and assist in settling this problem.

The above named individual, the owner of a company called Alfa Rock was contracted by me in May of 2010 to undertake the construction of my house at Labadi. He gave me to understand that he was experienced and had the ability to complete this assignment.

I am a UN Staff member working in the UN Mission in Liberia as the Chief of Radio, and over the course of five months I paid (electronic transfer)Mr Hussein $45,900 for the work, out of the total contract price of $52, 000. He has failed to even complete the foundation work on the property and has consistently and persistently lied about the progress of the works, and eventually refused to take my calls. Please find copies of the receipt, the contract, and pictures of my site as it looks today. As you can even see from the contract Mr Hussein said the work would be completed for $47,000 and then in his receipt talks about additional works, none of which have been done, nor were they accounted for in the contract.
Your Excellency, I came home in December and reported him to the police who arrested him, as I believed that this was a clear case of fraud, deception, breach of contract and plain theft. Upon his arrest around the 19th December 2010, he did not deny any of my accusations and begged for time to complete the works, which I told him, I did not want him to continue with, as I could not trust his honesty or ability to deliver. I asked him to pay me back the difference between the work done (calculated by an independent contractor as 12,000 GHC-copy attached) and the amount I paid him which is $45,900. He has simply failed to even try to respond and shows no remorse for his actions.
Mr Ambassador, in view of his intransigence and the fact that since that time he has made no attempt to pay me back my money, or in any way seek to right the grievous wrong done to me, it is my intention to bring both a criminal and civil action against him. To ensure his compliance in good time, I will use the media as best I can to pressure this man who is both a fraudster and criminal , who preyed on my trust to deceive me. I will also seek compensatory damages and any other possible costs that I have incurred so far, including the cost to hire a lawyer to bring the necessary actions
Your Excellency, I bring this matter to your attention in the hope that you will use your considerable influence to bring Mr Hussein, whose telephone number is ,0547776760 and who claims to have a brother who owns a hotel in Dzorwulu, and is currently working on a site near Vienna City, Circle, Accra, to book, and if possible to convince him to do the right and honorable thing before this matter goes any further.
With the greatest respect and assurances of my highest esteem, I am your humble servant .

Joseph Roberts-Mensah
Is the Lebanese Community and the Embassy unaware of the nature of this claim and do they intend to take any action against this company and this individual? That’s the question…..or is it a case of see no evil, hear no evil, and like the ostrich, bury their heads in the sand, with their rear end sticking out.

Source: Benjamin Kwame Tawiah