Former Ambassador of Ghana to India, Sam Pee Yalley, says his heart goes out to the Ghanaian youth who will have no other option than to bear the brunt of the unlawful actions taken by the current leaders in government.
According to Mr Pee Yalley, several criminal offenses have been perpetrated under the Akufo-Addo led government yet none of the culprits have been brought to justice.
Contributing to discussions on Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV, Wednesday, July 26, Mr Pee Yalley expressed his displeasure over the secrecy characterised by persons in the current government.
He highlighted several sensitive issues such as the scandalous Ameri Plant deal involving former Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko, and the Sky train scandal involving Joe Ghartey – two individuals contesting the New Patriotic Party flagbearership race.
He noted that it is unacceptable for the former government officials involved to keep such matters private and only provide updates when they believe it is most convenient to do so.
“Why do they think they must contest elections before they spill this?” he quizzed.
Ameri deal
Following the change of government in 2017, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, initiated a renegotiation of the Ameri deal signed in 2015. The government sought to amend the terms of the agreement to reduce costs and make it more favorable to Ghana.
The renegotiation process led to the signing of a novation agreement with a new company called Mytilineos International Trading Company in 2018. Under this agreement, Mytilineos took over the management and operation of the Ameri Power Plant from Ameri Group.
Boakye Agyarko’s revealation
Mr Boakye Agyarko, during an interview on Kumasi-based Asanteman FM, claimed that Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, a prominent figure in the NPP, renegotiated the Ameri deal without obtaining consent from the government committee assigned to work on the deal.
Upon confronting Gabby about the matter, Agyarko asserted that he was told to keep quiet because President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was already informed about the actions taken by Gabby.
Agyarko recounted that he received a call from Gabby while he was on a flight to the United States, during which Gabby expressed frustration at not being able to reach him.
Sam Pee’s response
According to Sam Pee Yalley, he finds it unfortunate that it took a presidential ambition to get Mr Agyako to talk about the very matter that got him fired in 2018.
“Any Patriotic Ghanaian who concedes this fact has no favour with me at all. Because the damage that may have been caused from that time till today cannot be quantified,” he explained.
He called for a Parliamentary probe into the Ameri deal to ensure the fine details of what transpired are made public.
“Boakye Agyarko should not be left alone. There should be a committee to look into the Ameri deal so Ghanaians will see what exactly happened,” he entreated.
Sky train project
Former Minister of Railways Development and a presidential aspirant for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Joe Ghartey, affirmed that he did not make any payments to AI Sky or give authorization for the transfer of $2 million to finance the Accra Sky Train Project.
Clarifying the issues in an interview on Citi FM, Joe Ghartey stated that: “It is the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund that paid the money and the Fund is mandated to make such payments and so if the Minority wants anyone to refund the money, they should tell the Auditor General to ask the Fund to refund the money.”
Sam Pee’s response
The former Ambassador indicated that it is opportunistic on the part of Mr Ghartey to reveal the entity that made such payment when his presidential ambition is on the line.
“He says we have paid two million dollars to a company that didn’t even exist. In law, if you are not authorized to do what you are doing, what is your status?
Today, Joe Ghartey tells us that he was not the one who paid the money. Who paid the money? Why did Joe Ghartey keep quiet all this while until someone poked him?” he quizzed.
According to Mr Sam Pee, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and President Akufo-Addo must be aware of this information as such a national project cannot proceed without their active involvement.
“Without authorisation from that Minister (Finance) and President nobody can. There imare certain expenditure that concern the development of this country, we were not doing it for railways alone. So the President must know of this. The Minister of Finance who signed the cheques for payment must know about this,” he stated.
Sam Pee ‘wails‘
For Mr Sam Pee, he is pained by the fact that some Ghanaians can “be wicked to this country.”
According to him, natural resources and funds that the youth of this country could rely on have been damaged or mortgaged by the government.
“We have almost destroyed all our state institutions and the persons in the state institutions cannot be trusted.
“Look at our water bodies. Look at our education system. Today, students have to do four terms and parents are paying. Today, the private schools have been collapsed and all these are happening and we in the political class feel we are untouchable?
“We should be sensitive to the plight of Ghanaians who vote for us. A lot of crime has been committed. Too many crimes have been committed in the fourth republic under Nana Akufo-Addo.”
Mr Sam Pee therefore said “I weep for this country and its youth because not only are we consuming their monies, keeping millions of dollars in our houses.”
“What will the youth depend on when they grow up,” he quizzed.