The former Works and Housing Minister, Enock Teye Mensah is currently in a situation that can best be described as a ‘web of lies’ following his claims that he never supervised or worked on an agreement with respect to the Saglemi Housing Project which state the 5000 Housing Units are to be delivered in phases.
The government of Ghana through the Attorney-General has charged former Works and Housing Minister, Alhaji Collins Dauda his successor, Dr Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah, and three others to court, accusing them of willfully over the Saglemi Affordable Housing Project.
The state is pressing 52 counts of criminal charges against the accused persons for intentionally misapplying $200 million of state funds by paying for 1,412 affordable housing units at Saglemi, instead of 5,000 units, as Parliament had approved.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Ms Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, on behalf of the Attorney General, filed the charges at the Accra High Court last Friday, just before the courts rose for their annual vacation.
The prosecutor alleged that although $196.43 million had been spent on the Saglemi Affordable Housing Project, the contractor having been paid $179.9 million, investigations carried out revealed that the cost of works executed on-site, including consultancy services, was about $64.98 million, with only 651.75 acres of land used, out of the 2,172 acres available for the project.
“Investigations further revealed that only 668 housing units were completed by the contractor. These are, however, not habitable,” the A-G said, adding that “not a single house under the project has been sold and the facility remains unpaid, resulting in huge financial loss to the Republic of Ghana” – the prosecutor said.
Reacting to the charges, the National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi described the action of the government as “frivolous and a poor attempt by the vindictive Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government to create a convenient excuse for their abandonment of the Saglemi Housing project.”
He revealed that under the 23rd October 2013 “Works Agreement, the first Phase of the project was to deliver about 1,500 housing units which was going to be bought by the Off-taker, Ghana Home Loans and proceeds from same was supposed to be paid into a revolving Escrow Account to be used for the next Phases, until all the 5,000 housing units were delivered. The claim that the decision to build 5000 housing units was reviewed downwards to about 1500 houses is therefore palpable falsehood.”
According to Sammy Gyamfi, “the claim that Parliament approved an agreement for 5,000 housing units but that was reviewed to about 1500 houses without recourse to Parliament is false.” explaining that “at no point did government indicate that it was going to stop the project at building 1500 houses only, which is just Phase 1 of the project. The decision that the 5000 housing units should be built in Phases was provided for in the Works Agreement which was executed by Hon. ET Mensah.”
“When Hon. Collins Dauda took over as Minister for Works and Housing, he only amended and restated the Works Agreement in line with the provisions of same, and reduced the number of Phases from 4 to 3 to shorten the project duration.” – He added
But Mr. ET Mensah on Metro TV’s programme dismissed Sammy Gyamfi’s claims describing it as falsehood maintaining that there was no point in time that the project was to be executed in Phases rather, the 5000 housing units were to be delivered at a go.
However, documents including Parliamentary Hansard on October 31, 2012 quoated Counceil of State Member to have said:
“Mr Speaker, this issue about taking USD200 million –– let us put these things in perspective. This company, as we have said, has been existing for six months and they have entered into an agreement with Ghana Home Loans. Ghana Home Loans’ technical team has also examined –– This is because they would be the off-takers. The houses would be built and they would buy them off. We are not building all the 5,000 AT AGO, BUT OVER A PERIOD”
Copy of the said signed agreement also noted that the project was to be in phases:
By: Efo Korsi Senyo / awakenewsroom.com
Surprise surprise…
