Former Diplomat Plays A 'Fast One' On The State

A former employee of Ghana High Commission in London, who was not satisfied with the 10,000 pounds he received as end of service benefit, played it fast on the Attorney General�s Department. Mr James Manu thereby succeeded in going away with GH�60,000. Mr Manu who went on voluntary retirement and was provided with the 10,000 pounds took the Commission to court in London to claim more money. When it was made known to him that the Commission could not be sued in London; he rushed to Ghana and sought legal action over the issue. An Accra High Court gave judgment in favour of Mr Manu, which enabled him to receive the additional GH�60,000. Mrs Dorothy Afriyie Ansah, Chief State Attorney confirmed the payment of the money to Mr Manu, when she appeared before the Judgment Debt Commission, in Accra on Wednesday. The plaintiff filed entry to court in 2004 and got judgment in 2008 while payment was made in two instalments in 2007 and 2008. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) also appeared before the Commission in the matter involving African Automobile Limited(AAL). The Ministry appeared before the Commission in respect of vehicles AAL supplied to it from 1995- 2001. Mr Seth Mensah Dumogah, Chief Director at the Legal Unit of the Ministry told the Commission that no document had been cited concerning the vehicles. �We have not be able to locate any document on agreement signed with the African Automobile Limited to supply the Ministry with vehicles and for a long time now the Ministry had not received any vehicle from African Automobile Limited,� he said. The AAL pursued court action against MOFA claiming GH�238,395.96 as indebtedness. Mr Dumogah said the AAL had not made any inquiry to the Ministry about its indebtedness or served it with any court letter regarding the non-payment of the debt. �As it is now, we are unaware of our indebtedness to the African Automobile Limited, since we have not cited documents of any agreement that we established with them to supply the Ministry with vehicles,� Mr Dumogah said.