Day: March 27, 2024

Numo Frederick Tawiah Tetteh Adeyena, a traditional ruler, has appeared before an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly defrauding a Chinese company of GHC360,000.

Numo Adenyena is alleged to have collected the money under the pretext of selling four acres of land at Tsopoli to the Company, but failed.

Charged with attempt to commit crime namely fraudulent transaction and defrauding by false pretense, Numo Adeyena has pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution told the court that the accused person had refunded GHC140,000.

The court presided over by Mrs Kizita Naa Koowa Quashie admitted the accused person to bail in the GHC250,000 with two sureties.

The court ordered the accused person to deposit a valid passport, which would not expire before March 25, 2025, Voter’s ID, or Ghana Card at the Court Registry.

According to the court it was adjourning the matter to April 30, 2024, for the parties to attempt reconciliation.

Defence Counsel Lordia Addison prayed the court to admit the accused person to bail .

Accordin
g to the counsel, the accused person, also the head of the family, was not a flight risk.

She said the accused person had been on police enquiry bail and had cooperated with the police.

The prosecution led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Emmanuel Haligah said the complainant Shen Jaiming was a Chinese and a resident of Tsopoli.

The prosecutor said the accused person was the head of Djangmaku- Manya family of Old Ningo and a resident of Old Ningo.

The court heard that in May 2023, the complainant needed a parcel of land at Tsopoli for his company, Skylight Manufacturing Limited for a project and was introduced to Andrews Darpong by his lawyer as a land agent who could assist him get a parcel of land.

The complainant, the prosecution said contacted Andrews Darpoh, who led him to the accused person’s family, the accused person assuring him that his family could sell to him, four acres of land at Tsopoli at the cost of GHC720,000.

The prosecution said the accused person instructed the family sur
veyor, who led the complainant to a parcel of land close to the Saglime Government Housing project and he (the complainant) developed interest.

The court was told that the accused person later collected an initial amount of GHC360,000 from Shen Jiaming and prepared a Sale and Purchase agreement between them.

On June 14, 2023, Andrew Darpoh and others with the complainant and one Li Tian Zhong went to wait on the land for the accused person’s family surveyor to demarcate the four acres of land for them.

The prosecution said whiles on the land, police officers on duty at Saglime Government Housing Project led by Chief Inspector Agustine Gershon Dormekpor spotted them and after questioning, arrested and took them to the CID Headquarters.

The prosecution said the same day, the accused person in his caution statement indicated that the land formed part of his family land.

The prosecutor said investigations revealed that the four acre land the accused person collected the money to sell to Skylight Manufacturin
g Limited Company did not belong to his family, according to an official search report from the Lands Commission.

The prosecution said in the course of investigations, the accused person refunded GHC140,000 to Skylight Manufacturing Company Limited.

Source: Ghana News Agency

By Charity Nginyu

In its 2023 financial report, MTN Group, a leading telecommunication giant, has disclosed its intention to divest from smaller markets within the West and Central African region, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry.

A spokesperson for MTN Group confirmed the impending sale of its business segments in the specified African countries but refrained from disclosing the financial details surrounding the transaction. However, it was confirmed that the sale has been accepted by Telecel, a prominent Africa-focused telecommunication service provider.

The decision to sell off its operations in these countries is expected to streamline MTN’s operations and enable a sharper focus on key markets such as Ghana, Cameroon, and Cote d’Ivoire.

These markets, reports say, collectively contribute 18.6% to the company’s revenue and have been identified as strongholds within the West and Central African region.

It is reported that the divestment from Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry, which together contribute 7
.3% to MTN Group’s revenue, will allow the company to reallocate resources and expertise to bolster its presence in markets with higher revenue generation potential.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Mr Reginald Yofi Grant, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, says his outfit would soon introduce an Investor Grievance Mechanism to address challenges investors faced when setting up businesses in Ghana.

He said the Mechanism, which would be an online platform, would enable the GIPC to identify challenges investors faced and address them.

Mr Grant said this during the opening of GIPC’s AfterCare Forum, a forum for investors to discuss their challenges and opportunities in doing business in the country.

The event brought together investors, business owners, state institutions and government officials to deliberate on how to enhance investors’ experience and stay in the country.

Mr Grant said it formed part of the Centre’s ‘investor retention’ strategy, aimed at providing an enabling environment to enhance investor experience.

He said since the establishment of the AfterCare Unit at the Centre two years ago, it had been able to address some challenges investors faced as well a
s made smooth and less cumbersome their setting up and operational experience.

Mr Grant said some of the challenges they faced included lack of transparency and accountability in their dealings with public agencies and delays in the issuance of government permits to start business.

He added that they would be enhancing their collaboration with state institutions, especially the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in addressing challenges investors faced in their localities.

Mr Grant said so far, engagements with investors at the forum had been fruitful, saying investors aftercare was a continuous process towards making the business environment conducive for them.

Mr Roger Aboujaoude, Chief Executive Officer of Maleka Farms Limited, commended the GIPC for the establishment of the Unit, saying it had come in time to address their concerns.

Source: Ghana News Agency

By Eratus Ndueh

Released last July 2022, after spending four years in prison, the former Minister of water and energy, Basile Atangana Kouna, has been granted permission to recover his property – vehicles, cash and bank accounts, worth several hundreds of million FCFA.

The instruction was recently given by Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, the Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon, to the Minister of Justice, Laurent Esso, via a correspondence under instructions of President Paul Biya, which ordered the restitution of nearly one billion CFA seized from the accounts of Basile Atangana Kouna.

Suspected of embezzlement of public funds, illegal emigration and violation of the legal code by the country’s justice system, Basile Atangana Kouna fled at night in March 2018 to Nigeria where he was arrested. He was later brought back, prosecuted and charged, then sent to the Kondengui central prison in Yaounde. After delayed proceedings under the same presidential instructions, Kouna’s accounts were seiz
ed following the requisitions of the investigating judge of the Special Criminal Court (TCS).

The money seized included 971,000 euros and USD 222,256 which converts to just over FCFA 754 million. In addition to this money, several luxury vehicles were seized from the homes of Basile Atangana Kouna in Douala and Yaoundé, as well as from his relatives.

It is yet unclear where the former Minister of water and energy and also former Director General of the National Water Corporation, CAMWATER, could be at this moment but he was lastly seen in his residence in France.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Professor Godfred Alufar Bokpin, an Economist, has asked the government to ensure that the GHS61 billion savings from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) is put to productive use.

He said the government was expected to save GHS61 billion from the DDEP it carried out under the ongoing US$3 billion loan-support programme with the International Monetary Fund between 2023 and 2031.

The Economist said the money would give the government a ‘breathing fiscal space’ and that it was important that intentional efforts were made to invest such amount in the growth of agriculture and agribusiness and manufacturing.

Prof Bokpin, also said that it was important for government to make the cost of doing business on those sectors very friendly.

He said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after a roundtable discussion on ‘Ghana’s debt restructuring programme thus far and the way forward’.

The event was organised by Tax Justice Coalition in collaboration with ActionAid Ghana, at the Maxlot Hotel in Accr
a on Tuesday, March 26.

Speaking with GNA, Prof Bokpin asked the government not to fail the individuals, financial institutions, and pensioners, who had sacrificed for the country to have the fiscal space created through the DDEP.

‘Even though the government is counting it gains in terms of fiscal savings from the DDEP, which is over GHS61bn [from 2023 to 2031], that is cost to domestic creditors,’ he said.

The government should ensure that the money saved from the DDEP is used productively to contribute to the country’s economic stability, as well as implement projects that would benefit Ghanaians, he stressed.

Prof Bokpin noted that in the past, the Heavily Independent Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, and other debt reliefs programmes, had the country implement specific programmes and projects.

In the case of the DDEP, however, he said that had not been done, giving the government a leeway to spend the money realised though the DDEP the way it would want to do.

‘Because we couldn’t come under a Domes
tic Creditors Committee to demand specific reforms in exchange for the haircut, the government has a fiscal space in excess of GHS61bn,’ he said.

That, the Economist said would lead to the government engaging in several activities, especially during the election year, and cautioned against starting projects that would not be completed in the shortest time possible.

He also encouraged the government to double its efforts in completing external debt negotiations, because it was critical in ensuring that the country reached the debt sustainability expected by 2028.

Ghana has so far completed its domestic debt restructuring and secured assurances from its external bilateral creditors, awaiting a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), and still in negotiation with its commercial creditors.

‘The government must be flexible and do a lot more within to ensure that we deepen fiscal reforms. So that whatever gains we make will be able to complement what we must do here,’ he urged.

Source: Ghana News Agency