Assembly Politics: Kofi Plahar Denies Wrongdoing

Information reaching us indicates that the flamboyant District Chief Executive (DCE) of the Dangme East District Assembly (DEDA) Mr. Kofi Plahar has turned the assembly into a gold mining site from where he is milking the assembly dry of several millions of cedis.

ofi Plahar, according to the information, takes unilateral decisions in some of the assembly's issues and sometimes awards contracts to some of his close associates, some of who are in the assembly, without going through tender.

But the, DCE, in an interview with this newspaper, denied all the allegations, describing them as false and baseless.

According to our information, the DEDA boss indicated in the assembly's works department data sheet for projects in the districts that, the assembly had completed an electrification project to the entire Gorm township, near Ada at the cost of ?105.5 million.

However, investigation conducted by the paper shows that all the assembly was able to do was to extend electricity to the staff quarters of the school in the town.

Dissatisfied with the claim of the DCE, the chief of Gorm, Nene Doe Agbogbatey II petitioned the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr. Kwadwo Adjei Darko, to set up a commission of enquiry into the award of the contract which it was alleged did not go through tender.

The petition, dated June 6, 2003 and signed by the chief stated that "we members of the Gorm Community do affirm that item (49) as listed on the Dangme East Assembly Works Department Data sheet for projects is not true.

"The DCE, instead of executing the electrification project of the whole township, has neglected it and rather executed only the school staff quarters".

The information further stated that, Mr. Plahar had been charging a special levy of ?350,000 on each truck load of 13,500 litres of pre-mixed fuel from the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) for fishing purposes, and this has accumulated into several millions of cedis.

We learnt that when the ?350,000 were collected, the fishermen were being issued with AFCFA receipts, and monies realized were been channeled into an unknown accounts.

The information continued that Mr. Plahar has also flouted a presidential directive which debars assembly members from being awarded contracts and has unilaterally awarded contracts to two of the assembly members namely, Lizzy Ofoe and Nii Amoo Wellington.

Lizzy's company, Thebazile Enterprise, won a contract to construct an eight-seater KVIP latrine at Wasakusewayo at the cost of ?35,187,761 while Amo Wellington's Ada Foah Youth Artisans Association had the nod to construct the Tojey primary school classroom block at the cost of ?29,987,500, the information added.

We also discovered that the DEDA boss bought 1,000 asbestos roofing sheets with funds from the assembly in the name of the district NADMO Secretariat and distributed the items to some people without the knowledge of the district NADMO co-ordinator.

Corroborating our information, the NADMO district co-coordinator, Mr. John Laweh Kumoji said he had no idea how the items were acquired and how they were distributed.

He noted that usually, when items were acquired or obtained for disaster management, records of beneficiary communities were being taken for reference, "however, in this case, the DCE without my consent, unilaterally ordered the items and distributed them all by himself".

Reacting to the allegations, the Hon. DCE observed that the people in his district were envious of his success as a DCE and were therefore poised to drag his name in the mud.

He was evasive on the Gorm electrification project, saying, he wouldn't want to comment on the issue because the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development was investigating it. He however noted that the Gorm Chief had rendered an apology to him for that petition.

On the pre-mixed fuel issue, Mr. Plahar disclosed that for sometime now, the government had been subsidizing the pre-mixed fuel and the profit made was supposed to be ploughed back to help the community and so when he took office, he held a meeting with the executives of the AFCFA in response to a call from the pre-mixed fuel secretariat to re-organize the fishermen association into profitable ventures.

And so the assembly, in partnership with the fishermen association, agreed to impose a levy of ?350,000 on each load of the pre-mixed fuel with the signatories of the association being the budget officer, deputy finance officer and assistant planning officer (all from the assembly).

"That is why we issue the AFCFA's receipt to them. It is important to note that out of the ?350,000, ?300,000 go into the account of the association and the remaining ?50,000 into the assembly's account", he explained.

Touching on the disaster items, Mr. Plahar denied he did the distribution unilaterally. According to him, some of the requirements were there long before he took office, and it was only proper that something was done.

Explaining further, the DEDA boss said the roof of the police station and that of some schools in the district had been ripped off and were outstanding in the files and so when he took office, he sought the approval of the general assembly before acquiring and distributing the items to the affected institutions.

Finally, the DCE told the paper that he was not aware that the two assembly members, Lizzie and Wellington were contractors.

He noted, "What I know that Lizzie does is that whenever we hold receptions, she takes the contract to provide the refreshment and nothing else".

"In the case of Willington, when I took office, I asked them to form groups of about 15 to 20 membership made up of artisans such as masons, carpenters etc and the assembly gives them small contracts so as to help to provide employment for the youth in the district" he pointed out.