[ 2017-01-17 ]

Assembly blows GHC72,000 on security men who work for themselves
The Managing Director of SG-Lodge Hotel, located
at Odumase-Krobo in the Eastern region, Mr. Sas
George, has exposed massive corruption at the
Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly.

Mr. George, who is also the MD of Carlo Printing
Press in Accra, blew the lid over the leadership
of the “rotten Assembly”, when he dragged the
Assembly to an Odumase-Krobo Circuit Court over
the Assembly’s failure to pay hotel bills.

Also joined in the suit were the Municipal Chief
Executive (MCE), Mr. J. F. K. Acolatse and Mr.
Eric Hini, the Municipal Coordinator.

They failed to pay an amount of GHc26, 547 being
the total cost of hotel accommodation and food
services offered to 13 truck drivers at the
request of the Assembly.

According to the plaintiff, between the periods of
April 13, 2015 and July 1, 2016, SG Lodge Hotel
rented accommodation and food services to the 13
truck drivers.

It was contained in the summons that, the
plaintiff accordingly served copies of the
aforementioned SG Lodge debit note with numbers
00340, 000341 and 000342 respectively on the
defendants for payment since July 9, 2016.

The plaintiff, however, contended that, the
demeanor of the defendants showed that they were
not prepared to pay, hence the call on the court.

Available information indicates that the out-going
MCE has asked the Assembly not to file any defense
to the writ.

Instead, he wants the manager to have a friendly
arrangement to pay the said amount, since the
Assembly has no case.

Investigations conducted by The Chronicle revealed
that the people who lodged in the hotel were not
drivers, but national security
operatives-turned-contractors, who came to work on
the roads of the municipality.

It was revealed that the perceived national
security operatives stormed the admired
municipality, somewhere December 15, 2015 under
the pretext of working on their road, with the
Assembly asking them to lodge at the hotel for
about two months.

Apart from two roads that were reshaped in the
middle belt of the Assembly, the ‘contractors’
neither constructed nor reshaped any road within
the municipality. Rather, they were weaning and
selling sand, with the making weekly payments of
GHc 9000 to them, over the two months’ period
that they stayed.

The outgoing MCE of the area, Mr. J.F.K. Acolatse,
the Municipal Finance Officer, Mr. Thomas Dzwbu
and Mr. Nathan Narh Caeser, the Municipal Engineer
gasped for breath when this reporter reached them
on phone for reactions.

There was accusation and counter-accusations among
the three leading figures of the Assembly in a
mini meeting last Friday at the office of the
out-going MCE.

In his explanation, the out-going MCE said he was
about to go on leave when the national security
personnel arrived and so he asked the engineer to
take over responsibilities of operations, a claim
that was confirmed by the Engineer.

Unfortunately, he said, he did not request for any
report on the operations of the national security
contractors when he resumed work.

The Engineer, on his part, said he received pieces
of information that the national security
operatives were engaged in sand winning and
selling sands, as well as using the heavy duty
machines for commercial purposes, but when he
asked them, they denied the allegation.

When this reporter further asked him if he could
mention the number of roads that they (national
security operatives) had worked on, he had this to
say: “I can’t mention but they work on some
roads at the middle belt.”

He gave a shocking response when further asked why
he could not mention the number of roads worked
on: “I asked my assistant to monitor their
activities so I was not directly in charge. There
was only verbal report from my assistant so I
can’t give you the number of roads worked
on”.

But the Municipal Finance Officer denied flatly
the GHC 9000 per week given to the operatives. But
when asked to quote the amount, he said “he who
alleges should prove”, pointing to the
reporter.

When pushed further, he disclosed that the
Assembly gave GHc60 to four people each, but not
13 as mentioned and also disagreed with the amount
mentioned by the plaintiff, adding that, the
figure is outrageous.

He however, couldn’t state how much the Assembly
owes the Hotel but only to say “we did not ask
them to take food at the hotel since we were
giving them per diem.”

But the out-going MCE admitted that, the Assembly
owes the hotel and called on the leadership of the
Assembly to invite the manager of the hotel to
agree in principles on how to pay the amount

Source - The Chronicle

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