OccupyGhana demands full disclosure from govt over agreement with Anator Holding
OccupyGhana, a pressure group, is demanding from the government full disclosure and full explanation of the circumstances surrounding a confidential and potentially lucrative agreement with Anator Holding Company Limited, believed to be owned by businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome.
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According to OccupyGhana, Anator Holding Company Limited, in the current proceedings in court, was one of the companies that had filed an interpleader, claiming to be the owner of two of Woyome’s properties that the government had finally managed to attach in execution of the judgement.
In a statement issued in Accra, OccupyGhana said it had seen a framework agreement dated as recently as December 21, 2015, for Anator Holding to “develop deep seaports (including) industrial parks and green townships” in Ghana.
According to OccupyGhana, the agreement was signed by Woyome, as the Executive Chairman of Anator Holding, and the then Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Aku Attivor.
The pressure group said the agreement was entered into on the basis of a non-binding scantily drafted memorandum of understanding (MoU) entered into between the same company and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) on the same subject on August 28, 2015.
Framework
The statement said the framework agreement with Ghana was expressed to have been entered into so that Woyome’s company could raise an initial financing of US$8.5 million just for feasibility studies.
“In other words, Woyome is relying on the country’s goodwill to raise financing for a sweetheart deal that he has entered into with the GPHA and is possibly shopping around banks all over the world for money on the back of this agreement.
“That agreement was signed with the express approval of Cabinet, as conveyed by a letter signed by the Chief of Staff from the Office of the President, dated 16 December, 2015. It is instructive to point out that the agreement was signed on the same day that the Cabinet approval was received by the Ministry of Transport.
“We have seen how Woyome operates. He hit us for GH¢51.2 million that he did not deserve, on the basis of a non-existent contract. Our government and its lawyers, either unconcerned or guilty of complicity, sat back when Woyome went to court and obtained a default judgement against us. Even though Mr Martin Amidu has obtained judgement for the people of Ghana, we are struggling to recover that money from him and this same Anator Holding is battling to stop us from selling at least two of Woyome’s properties to pay the debt,” it said.
Full disclosure
“Who authorised it? Did the President know that Dzifa Attivor was entering into this contract on our behalf? If so, did he do anything to stop it? Did the President know about the Cabinet approval? We demand from the government and the GPHA evidence that all proper statutory and procurement approvals were duly obtained in entering into these agreements and memoranda with Woyome.
“Further, we demand that the government immediately cancels that agreement. Woyome has our money. Thanks to Mr Amidu, we have judgement against him. He has failed to pay. We should not be doing business either with him or with any corporate entity that he owns, controls or is associated with, under any circumstances,” it said.
Meanwhile, at a press conference in Accra last Wednesday, OccupyGhana called for the immediate prosecution of persons involved in the Smarttys bus re-branding scandal.
It challenged the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General (A-G), Mrs Marrietta Brew Appiah-Opong, to apply the law guiding government contracts where offenders could face up to 10-year jail terms.
Addressing the media in Accra, a leading member of the group, Mr Ace Annan Ankomah, said the group had presented a 20-page report to the A-G, the leadership of Parliament and other stakeholders in the country to ensure that the GH₵3.6 million was retrieved in a timely manner.
According to him, failure by the respective authorities to act would compel the group to head to court.