The Accra High Court’s Criminal Court 2 Division has given the State up to six weeks to make its disclosures in the abandoned Saglemi Housing Project trial.
Her ladyship, Elfreda Denkyi, granted the Prosecution time to submit the appropriate proceedings in response to a plea made by Chief State Attorney, Evelyn Keelson.
Collins Dauda, a former Works and Housing Minister in the Mahama administration, is on trial alongside four others for allegedly causing financial loss to the state in the controversial housing project.
In an interview after the court sessions, Minority Spokesperson on Health Kwabena Mintah Akandoh accused the State of being selective in its pursuit of suspected rot in public office.
He said that he expects the State to prosecute Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu in the same manner for his management of the acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines during the peak of the pandemic.
Mr. Dauda and the four others are charged with 52 counts of criminal misapplication of public property, knowingly causing financial loss to the Republic, and dishonestly causing loss to public property.
Alhaji Collins Dauda and his successor, Dr. Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah, have been accused of spending more than $196 million on the Saglemi housing project, despite the fact that investigations revealed that the cost of works completed on the site, including consultancy services, was approximately $64,982,900.77.
They were later given bail.
The third accused person who was a Chief Director at the ministry was also granted bail to the tune of $65 million or its cedi equivalent with three sureties.
Case Specifics
According to the facts submitted by the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, in August 2012, then-President John Dramani Mahama issued an executive order allowing the building of 5,000 affordable housing units, to be known as the Saglemi Affordable Housing Project.
Credit Suisse sponsored the project, which received legislative approval, and the housing units were to be offered to employees under mortgage arrangements supplied by the then Ghana Home Loans Company. Construtora OAS Ltd., a Brazilian corporation, is the project’s contractor.
According to the evidence presented in court, on January 4, 2013, the Ministry of Finance [borrower] and the lender signed a facility agreement for the release of $200 million to fund the construction of the 5,000 housing units, the same day the Housing Minister signed the EPC agreement with Construtora OAS, represented by Clocanas, the fourth accused.
The project, according to the AG, was to be completed in four phases on 2,172 acres of land for a contract price of $200 million, including advisory services.
According to the facility and EPC agreements, an Escrow Management Agreement was also executed as a condition antecedent to the delivery of the facility to the borrower.
He further revealed that on February 27, 2014, Dauda evaluated the EPC deal and signed both the original and revised (restated) agreement with Construtora OAS, represented by Clocanas, without parliamentary approval.
The revision is said to have altered the scope of work and the use of the $200 million approved by Parliament.
This revised agreement required the contractor to complete the project in three phases on a 1,272-acre site, while the $200 million was now to be applied to the execution of just the first phase of the project, which included about 1,502 housing units.
This was in violation of the parliamentary approvals, as well as the facility and Escrow Management agreements.
According to the facts, on December 21, 2016, the Chief Director, Yakubu, examined the original and revised the (restated) agreement and signed them (second and his revised or restated), without consulting Parliament.
According to the prosecutor, this resulted in a further decrease in the scope of works to 1,412 housing units at a revised price of $181 million, as well as an extension of the completion date to July 31, 2017.
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