Category: General

Mr David O. Sogbodjor, former Finance Manager of the defunct Beige Bank has told the High Court trying the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) that the receiver during the collapse of the Bank did not engage the Institution’s financial team.

He said although the finance team of the defunct bank, including the CFO worked briefly with the receiver, he failed to consult them on a lot of information concerning the Bank’s financial affairs before presenting the reports he had compiled in respect of the affairs of the Bank, which reports were now before the court.

‘If the receiver had engaged us on these matters, we would have provided the necessary information to enable him to rectify the information he provided in exhibits 1 and A.’

Mr Sogbodjor, the second defense’s witness, was giving his evidence-in-chief.

He said when the Bank was placed under receivership, he worked with the team represented by Mr Julius Ayivor, main prosecution’s witness in 2018, at the time when Consolidated Bank, Ghana, had taken ove
r the business about three months ago.

Mr Sogbodjor said between 2009 and 2012, the Bank, before it was upgraded to Savings and Loans from Beige Capital, grew from a branch to almost 30 branches from Accra to Ashanti and Central regions.

He said part of the exhibits in the receiver’s report before the Court provided information to the BoG and the Attorney-General on the financial and accounting position of the Bank at the time of receivership.

Mr Thaddeus Sory, the accused person’s lawyer, informed me that Mr Ayivor started testifying in court sometime in February 2023.

By this time, it was almost five years after the Bank was placed under the auspices of the receiver.

‘Exhibits 1 and A were prepared based on information available to the receiver on the Bank’s accounting system, such information, however, does not reflect the true and final financial and accounting position of the Bank.

‘The reason is that such information is not accepted in accounting as the final and true statement of an institution’s
financial and accounting position,’ he said.

‘Business institutions are continuously in business, in their businesses, transactions are initiated, and some of the transactions are either completed immediately or subsequently.

‘Transactions completed immediately would usually be recorded but depending on the nature of such transactions their exact financial effect may not be

immediately reflected in the financial and accounting records of the institution until later when other events relating to these transactions have occurred.’

He continued that ‘In financial accounting, it is common practice for institutions to be allowed a period of between thirty (30) to ninety [90] days after the end of an accounting year to prepare the financial reports of that specific year.’

He said that was to allow for the reports to take account of all adjusting items that may exist as of the balance sheet date and for the financial reports to reflect the true and exact situation of the reporting entity as of that balance shee
t date.

‘With regard to exhibits 1 and A, however, I observed after reading them that the receiver retained and maintained the same information given to him from the team when he took over the Bank as a receiver and up until almost five years later when Mr Ayivor started testifying, saying the reports omitted a lot of information he provided to the receiver.

‘This is wrong, I, therefore, say that exhibits 1 and A are not accurate and do not reflect the true accounting position of the Bank. The receiver appears to appreciate the fact that exhibits 1 and A cannot be final when he admits on page 17 of exhibit 1 that: there were significant number of assets physically present at the various branches that had records.’

Mr Sogbodjor said, ‘There is also another statement made by the receiver that he had obtained two asset schedules, one from the finance department and another from the administrative departments and that these two asset schedules were not in agreement.

‘It is important to add that the receiver d
id not say that he took account of them in exhibit 1 although these assets were not recorded in the asset register.’

On the Bank’s asset register, the witness said the compilation of the Bank’s assets register was the responsibility of the Bank’s finance department.

‘The process starts with the extraction of the costs of the assets and their locations as have been posted in their respective ledger codes in the general ledger. This is then updated into a file named the asset register.’

He explained that the general ledger and the exact register were, therefore, two different, separate and distinct accounting records of the Bank as was the case with many other institutions.

He said the asset register was normally generated in Microsoft Excel but took its source from data in the general ledger.

He said the report also did not cover all the Bank’s assets, adding that in August 2018, there were several assets [furniture and fittings, computers, power generators, etc) that had been acquired by the Bank, distri
buted to various offices.

Disbursements, he said, made by the Bank in respect of those acquisitions were all recorded in a ledger called prepayment project works, but the finance office was yet to pass journals that would re-allocate the costs of the items so received into their appropriate general ledger codes. ‘

Michael Nyinaku, former CEO of the defunct Beige Bank is facing theft and money laundering charges, which he has denied.

Source: Ghana News Agency

By Stephen TADAHA with additional information from investiraucameroun

The Bank of Central African State (BEAC) has announced the injection of new coins into the CEMAC subregion between June and September 2024 in response to problems linked to coin shortages within the CEMAC zone. The announcement also stated that the FCFA 200 coin will also be in circulation. This will be the first time that the CEMAC zone will transact with 200 FCFA single coins.

The shortages have been resulting from the exportation of significant quantities of coins to Asian countries where they are used to manufacture other products, mostly pieces of jewelry. The exportation of these coins is carried out by illegal export organizations installed in the subregion. They acquire coins from game houses and other illegal networks, reports have confirmed.

According to reliable sources as revealed by the Investor au Cameroun, the new variety will be larger and will have new denominations, particularly, with the arrival of FCFA 200 coins.

The
new variety of coins will also have some slight blending modifications. The size of the new variety will be similar to the FCFA 50 coins of the 1960s.

The arrival of the new coins according to the same source, will not affect the existing ones. The two varieties will coexist as BEAC has no plans to demonetize the existing coins. To ensure its availability, BEAC also envisages passing the command of significant quantities that will resolve coin shortages in the subregion.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has urged the government to adopt alternative sources of energy, including solar, to reduce the country’s heavy reliance on hydro and thermal power.

The short-to-medium term measure, Dr Joseph Obeng, President, GUTA, said would ensure a more reliable and affordable energy mix to boost the growth of businesses, spur trade and augment Ghana’s economic stability drive.

Dr Obeng said this in an exclusive interview with the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday, April 24, in Accra, and called for the integration of solar energy into the national grid.

He said not doing so could worsen the erratic power supply, with far-reaching consequences – crippling of businesses, increasing noise pollution, and risk causing fire outbreaks in markets due to congestion amid high use of generators.

He said the call had become necessary because the power outages were becoming persistent with no clear information on what the government was doing, or any indication of the challenge being so
lved anytime soon.

‘Our over dependence on hydro and thermal is getting embarrassing, especially when we have alternative energy sources that abounds and all that we need is a clear policy to solve that,’ Dr Obeng said.

‘It [solar] is capital intensive and expensive at the initial stage, but if there’s a clear policy that your power will be credited to you, almost every household will have power and offload it to the national grid,’ he said.

He, therefore, encouraged the government to provide a policy support system ‘… and make sure that they compensate people who are ready to provide these alternative sources and put it on the national grid’.

He indicated that while some businesses had planned to procure generators, others had already done so to ensure productivity, but that would be an additional cost that consumers would have to pay.

‘People are using generators, but the noise alone does not create a good ambience for trading activities to go on. There’s also discomfort because we must trade under unb
earable heat, and this isn’t what we need,’ the Trade leader said.

He also stated that the recent power outage was negatively affecting digital trade, explaining that ‘each time the lights go off, it slows business because some of the platforms become inaccessible.’

‘Already, businesses are in a state of stagnation because of the effects of the previous years’ economic crisis, and it’s important that we don’t add this [power outages] to our problems. So, the earlier they find a solution to this, the better,’ Dr Obeng said.

The recent power outages have been attributed largely to lack of funding as there is a US$1.9 billion financing gap, with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) also collecting less revenue for value chain players’ operations.

According to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), ECG collects an average of GHS850 million on a monthly basis, instead of the GHS1.9 billion monthly revenue required.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), in collaboration with the Society of Women in Taxation, has intensified education for Mallam Atta market women on the need to promptly file their monthly tax returns for accountability.

The Authority also used the platform to sensitise them about its new online portal for tax payment and good governance practices.

Ms Julie Essiam, Commissioner-General, GRA, underscored the importance of filing ones tax returns promptly to avoid sanctions.

She said the month of April was set aside by the Authority to create awareness among organisations and individuals on the importance of filing their returns, paying taxes, and complying with the law.

The Income Tax Act 2015 (Act 895) and the Revenue Administration Act 2016 ( Act 915) enjoined taxpayers to file their tax returns with the Commissioner-General, GRA, not later than four months into the next year.

She educated the women on the benefits of paying their taxes, including infrastructure development, the construction of schools,
health facilities, and other interventions undertaken by the government.

‘We are not only here to encourage you to pay tax but to also outline the benefits derived from paying taxes,’ she said.

She encouraged the women to be united and explain to each other tax-related issues for smooth compliance and peaceful coexistence.

The Commissioner-General prayed for the success of the women’s businesses so they would be able to pay their taxes for developmental projects.

Mr Edward Apenteng Gyamera, Commissioner-General in charge of Domestic Tax Revenue, GRA, said the Authority had made transactions with their clients convenient and easy with the introduction of the online portal.

The Authority, he said, had secured a tax management tool that enabled taxpayers to file their returns, initiate payments, apply for refunds, undertake cashless policies, and perform other transactions without walking to their offices.

Madam Esi Sam, President of the Society of Women in Taxation, said data from the population census re
vealed that the informal sector constituted 69.7 per cent population, of which women were in the majority.

That, she stressed, necessitated the collaboration to encourage the women to pay their taxes to develop the country.

The staff interacted with the market women on the need to pay their taxes and comply with the law governing tax payments.

Some of the market women expressed satisfaction with the initiative for enlightening them on tax issues but urged the government to use the revenue for its intended purposes.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Tema Circuit Court has sentenced two persons involved in the stealing of 1,146 bags of rice valued at Gh?846,000.00 to various terms of imprisonment.

Abdul Karim Abdul Aziz, a 36-year-old driver, was sentenced to five years each for the two counts of conspiracy to commit crime and stealing, while Ibrahim Mohammed, a 49-year-old transport agent, also received a 12-year jail sentence each with hard labour for the same offences. The jail terms will run concurrently.

The court, presided over by Mrs. Klorkor Okai Mills, handed the accused persons the jail terms after finding them guilty of the offences after a full trial following their not guilty plea.

Chief Inspector Jacob Maalo Kuubal, prosecuting, said the complainant, Mr. Emmanuel Quaye Nartey, is a clearing agent, while Aziz is a driver, and Mohammed alias Baba Alhassan is a transport agent.

He added that an accomplice, Abdul Rhaman Suleman, is currently on the run.

He stated that, on July 29, 2023, the complainant engaged the services of Aziz to ca
rt two 20-footer containers containing 1,146 bags of master perfumed rice valued at Gh? 846,000.00 from MPS Tema to be delivered at the Trade Pass Commodities warehouse near the slaughterhouse in Tema.

The prosecution added that Aziz took delivery of the rice and loaded it onto a DAFXF truck with registration number GT 4930-14, for which he was in charge.

He added that Aziz, on his way to the warehouse met Mohammed opposite the 20 bus stop, where they decided to dishonestly appropriate the rice.

The facts stated that a police investigation revealed that Aziz and Mohammed sent the containers of rice to Prampram, where they were offloaded and sold.

Chief Inspector Kuubal said Mohammed took Aziz to the residence of one Eric Kojo Asiedu, a witness in the case, where Aziz passed two nights, while they looked for buyers.

Mohammed hired loading boys, including the witness, to offload the 1,146 bags of rice from the containers, and the witness was paid an amount of Gh? 200.00 for his services.

He added that Azi
z received an initial amount of Gh?10,000.00 as part of his share of the proceeds and absconded to Tamale, where he met his accomplice, Abdul Rhaman Sulemana.

While in Temale, Aziz received an additional Gh?100,000.00 from Mohammed through Adbul Rhaman Sulemana’s mobile money account as final payment for the sale of the rice.

Aziz then gave Gh? 89,000.00 out of the money received to Sulemana to use in preparing travel documents for him to travel to Saudi Arabia.

According to the prosecution, further police investigation revealed that Aziz abandoned the truck at Tema Community Nine, near Flight Hotel, left the ignition key in the ignition node, and travelled to Tamale, adding that on November 20, 2023, intelligence led to his arrest from his hideout at Wassa Akropong in the Western Region.

The court heard that during the investigation, Aziz mentioned that he agreed with Mohammed and Sulemana to divert and sell the rice.

Witnesses in the case were arrested, and after investigations, the accused persons wer
e charged with the offences and arraigned.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Regent Keteku III, the chief of Lofortoe within Adeheta Electoral Area in Akatsi South, has given a week’s ultimatum to the Fulani herdsmen to leave the area.

This, according to him, was necessary due to the large extent of destruction by cattle in the area.

Regent Keteku gave the warning in a statement signed by Mr Emmanuel Amenyedzi, a Youth Leader in the area.

The statement alleged that some known individuals and residents in the area were accommodating the herdsmen, whose cattle had destroyed farms belonging to residents in the various communities.

‘It could be recalled that last year, the destruction of farm produce as a result of the presence of these Herdsmen in the community made it urgent to drive them away.’

The statement also indicated that those secretly accommodating the herdsmen had violated the agreed directives, hence the need to act.

‘Despite all these activities and warnings, you are still secretly accommodating these people in your villages. You are given a week as a matter of urgency
to repatriate your clients,’ it added.

The statement also said failure to heed the directive would lead to another act of order.

When contacted by the Ghana News Agency, Mr Samuel Agbelorbu, the Assembly member for the area, urged residents in the communities to adhere to the directives for peaceful coexistence.

Source: Ghana News Agency