The case against Yaw Osafo-Maafo and five others was struck out at an Accra High Court.
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Osafo-Maafo cleared over $1m Kroll contract
The Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo who was surcharged by the Auditor-General Daniel Yao Domelevo asking him to pay a private firm Kroll and Associates $1m for no work done has been cleared.
Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo
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The five others are Michael Ayensu, Abraham Kofi Tawiah, Patrick Nomo, and Eva Asselba Mends, all officials of the Ministry of Finance, and a UK firm, Kroll and Associates.
The court, presided over by Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, set aside the surcharge after it upheld two separate appeals filed by the Senior Minister, together with the four officials of the Ministry of Finance, and Kroll and Associates.
Justice Asare-Botwe held that the Auditor-General failed to exercise his discretionary power to issue the surcharge in a "fair" and "candid" manner and without arbitrariness, as enshrined under Article 296 of the 1992 Constitution.
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"I hold that the respondent (Auditor-General) failed to abide by the well-known rules of natural justice of giving the appellants the opportunity to be heard," she said.
Osafo-Maafo reacts
The Senior Minister in a letter addressed to the Auditor-General dated 8th October 2019 sought to set the record straight on the matter involving the Private firm. He said approval for a request for single-source procurement of professional services was obtained contrary to claims by the Auditor General that he failed to seek approval from the Procurement Authority.
Auditor-General Daniel Yao Domelevo and Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Marfo
Pulse Ghana
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On the accusation that the Senior Minister through the Finance Ministry made full payment of more than GH¢1m to Kroll and Associates with no proof of work done, Osafo-Marfo in his response said "Proofs of work done by Kroll and Associates are contained in their respective reports submitted to the office of the Senior Minister, COCOBOD, Bank of Ghana and Economic and Organized Crime Office(EOCO). The Consultancy services with Kroll are ongoing and expected to continue for four years".
The letter to the Auditor-General also revealed that "one of Kroll's reports for work done was in respect of LITHOvit agro-chemicals supplied by Seidu Agongo to COCOBOD for USD106,541,589.82 which is now the subject of a case in the High Court…. The work done by Kroll, in this case, included Bank Analysis and Supplier Overview which disclosed that 90% of the revenue Seidu Agongo earned from COCOBOD was from agrochemicals sales amounting to USD 106,541,589.82 which has turned out to be worthless."
Osafo-Marfo in his response also stated that Kroll is still conducting investigations into several other cases for the government of Ghana. The firm is also assisting in assets recoveries and prosecution.
However, Daniel Domelevo speaking on Accra-based Joy FM said Osafo-Marfo's reply to his queries over the contract with Kroll was unsatisfactory.
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