<<Print>>

The Controller and Accountant General�s Department has told the Judgement Debt Commission that it was the delay in releasing the offshore account into which a $2,640,000 compensation was to be lodged that resulted in the loss of GH�530,628.44 to the state. The $2,640,000 was a compensation due the CarMichael family for the confiscation of the Aveyime Livestock Project. When he appeared before the commission last Thursday, the Deputy Controller and Accountant General in charge of Treasuries, Mr Andrews Kingsley Kwadzo Kufe, said the controller received a letter dated January 6, 2009 from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning instructing it to release the cedi equivalent of $2,640 for the settlement of the compensation to the CarMichael family. However, the ministry�s letter did not give details of the account of the beneficiary. Mr Kufe said the controller also gave payment instruction to the Bank of Ghana (BoG) on January 8, 2009 for the release of the cedi equivalent of the $2,640,000. Consequently, the BoG transferred GH�3,217,630 into the Ministry of Justice�s Sub-Consolidated Account. However, the money was kept in that account for some months because the CarMichael family had not given any account into which the money should be paid. He said the controller received a letter dated April 28, 2009, from the British High Commission signed by its Political Officer, Mr Jacqui Wilson, which gave the account details of the beneficiary of the compensation. The Deputy Controller and Accountant General said as of the time of payment, the cedi equivalent of the $2,640,000 had gone up, which necessitated that the state pay additional GH�530,628.44 into the same account to make up for the difference. Recall On June 2, the BoG told the Judgement Debt Commission that it was the delay in the release of the letter of instruction from the Controller and Accountant General�s Department for the payment of a dollar equivalent of GH�3,217,630 compensation that resulted in the loss of GH�530,628.44 to the state. The Assistant Director at the Banking Department of the BoG, Mr Leslie Akrong, said the letter dated January 8, 2009, instructing the Central Bank to release $2,640,000 to enable the Attorney General�s Department to settle compensation to the CarMichael family for the confiscation of the Aveyime Livestock Project got to the BoG in April, 2009, and by that time, the cedi equivalent had gone up because of the rising exchange rate. Other cases Representatives of the Attorney General�s Department and the Land Valuation Board who were billed to appear before the commission in relation to the Aveyime Livestock Project were unable to do so. Consequently, the commission adjourned the case for the Land Valuation Board to June 10, 2014, and that of the Attorney General�s Department to June 12, 2014.