A High Court in Accra has given the new Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine, three weeks to decide whether or not his office intends to continue with the prosecution of former Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Collins Dauda.
The Asutifi Member of Parliament together with three other persons are standing trial for wilfully causing financial loss to the state in the $200 million Saglemi Housing project scandal.
The trial was expected to continue yesterday, but Hilda Craig, a Chief State Attorney told the court that “the instruction from my superior is that I should appeal to the court for a short adjournment to put our house in order. If the court is minded to give us two weeks to report appropriately to the court.”
Defence Attorneys did not oppose this prayer on the court, except for one them to ask that the case be adjourned for more than the two weeks requested, given the fact that the new Attorney General was now studying the cases his office is prosecuting.
Madam Craig, however, disagreed with this position, stating that “we are asking for two weeks and I think two weeks would be enough for us to do what we want to do.”
Asked by the trial judge Justice Ernest Owusu-Dapaa whether the prosecution intended to continue or not, she said “we are not there yet.
That is why we are asking for two weeks for my superiors to take a decision. I am just a conveyor belt.”
The trial judge subsequently adjourned the case to February 25, 2025, “for the state to give us update and decision to continue prosecution or otherwise.”
*Trial*
Alhaji Collins Dauda and three others are facing 70 charges of willfully causing financial loss to the state, issuing false certificate contrary to Sections 1 and 2 of the Government Contracts (Protection) Act, 1979, AFRCD 58 and dishonestly causing loss to public property contrary to Section 2 (1) of the Public Protection Act 1977 (SMCD) 140, and intentionally misapplying public property.
The others are Dr. Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah, a former Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing; Alhaji Ziblim Yakubu, Chief Director at the Ministry for Water Resources, Works and Housing when the Saglemi Housing deal was prepared and signed; as well as NouviTetteh Angelo, the Chief Executive Officer and owner of Ridge Management Solutions Ghana Limited, are all on trial.
They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges, and Alhaji Yakubu, per a request, has been granted permission to absent himself from the trial on health grounds and his counsel, Godwin EdudziTamakloe, has been given permission to conduct the case in his absence.
*Scandal*
The state per the prosecution’s fact sheet pumped about $200 million into the Saglemi Housing project which the Mills/Mahama administration initiated, but the housing units were never completed even though the funds had allegedly been exhausted before Mr. Mahama and his NDC were defeated in the 2016 general election and left office in early January 2017.
The initial agreement ratified by Parliament was for the construction of 5,000 housing units, but by the time the project was being executed, only 1,502 housing units had been earmarked for construction without recourse to Parliament.
Interestingly, the contract amount of $200 million was spent when even the 1,502 housing units could not fully be completed.
Only 668 were reportedly done, according to investigations compiled and sent to the Attorney General’s Department, and those are not even habitable.
Andrew Clocanas, the contractor who executed the Saglemi Housing Project was also charged but he was found dead in his washroom beneath a shower on Saturday, October 21, 2023, at his Airport Residential apartment.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak