The Council of State ,a Constitutional body with the sole mandate of advising the president on issues of national importance, is divided following the expose of some business dealings of one of its members.
The highly respected body made up of several senior citizens of the country including a retired Chief Justice, eminent Chiefs have remained tight lipped over corruption findings against one of its members from the Western Region.
Following the release of its report two weeks ago, the OSP recommended among other things the refund of money that Labianca Company illegally got from the Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) .
Labianca admitted its guilt and subsequently refunded the money to GRA.
The refund has prompted calls for the CEO of the Company to step-down because her conduct has brought the name of the respected body into serious public ridicule.
Days after the report was released some Council Members want some action taken to purge the image of the Council while others maintain that once she has refunded the money the case should end there.
Already, anti-graft campaigners are on a sustained push for the resignation of the Council of State member, Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh, after she was cited by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) for corruption-related offences.
According to them, Mrs. Asomah-Hinneh should not still be in office as a Council of State Member.
Mrs. Asomah-Hinneh, who owns Labianca Company and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), has been accused of allegedly using her position to get a favourable decision from the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The Special Prosecutor has since recovered GH¢ 1 million from Labianca.
Article 89 (6) of the 1992 Constitution states that the appointment of a Member of the Council of State may be terminated by the President on grounds of stated misbehavior.
However, that notwithstanding, anti-corruption campaigners want “Labianca” to resign or be fired by president Akufo-Addo.
To Vitus Azeem, “This Council of State member should have resigned by now. If the leadership, the President and his executive are determined to fight corruption that should be the case”.
Pressure group, the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has also joined calls for President Akufo-Addo to sack Asomah-Hinneh
The Executive Director for ASEPA, Mensah Thompson, believes the President should follow Article 89(6) of the constitution to terminate her appointment.
“We deem the allegations very seriously and for the fact that, the OSP has conducted investigations and has come out with a report leading to the refund of money, it means that the case has moved from mere allegations to a matter of substance. So based on this, we have petitioned the President requesting the termination of Madam Asomah-Hinneh as a member of the council of state” the group maintained.
As though that’s not enough some seven Paramountcies making up the Nzema Traditional Council have in a rather dramatic move have condemned calls for Asomah-Hinneh to resign.
At a press conference on Tuesday, at Ampain in the Ellembelle District, Awualae Angama Tuagyan who is the immediate past President of the Nzema Traditional Council said such calls for their representative to resign are out of malice and jealousy as she did no wrong but only took advantage of the customs advance ruling which all persons are entitled to.
Speaking on behalf of the Chiefs at Nzemamable, Awualae Tuagyan said: “We are concerned about the misguided attempt to introduce a conflict of interest tag based on the re-election of Ms. Asomah-Hinneh, Chief Executive Officer of Labianca Limited as the Western Regional representative on the Council of State. Even more bizarre is the attempt to assume that her role on the Board of the GPHA means an ability to control and influence decision-making processes at the Ghana Revenue Authority.”
“We note after reading the OSP report that the office provided no evidence pointing to influence peddling, which is the use of position or political influence on someone’s behalf in exchange for money or favours. The OSP failed to establish any evidence of the same except to draw a bizarre linkage based on her remote position.”
“Such an office must be guided by facts and truth. Evidence must be at the centre of its deeds and not feed the public with innuendoes and ambiguities. The OSPs assumption is based on an uninformed view of the Independence of the two professionally run institutions as established by law, and it further takes away from the opportunity available to all businesses to engage same separately“, he said.
“It must be stated that after paying close attention to the business for all these years, we can state from our reading of the year-end financials that our daughter’s company Labianca Company Limited has been a tax compliant company since its inception.“
Awualae Tuagyan further said attempts to damage the reputation of the Council of State Member would only destroy the businesses she has built which have created jobs for many and sustaining livelihoods in the Nzemland.
The Nzemamanle also promised to take further action in case the Council of State Member is made to resign.
The OSP in its investigative report accused Ms Asomah-Hinneh of influence-peddling for allegedly using her position as a member of the Council of State and member of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) to get a favourable decision from the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), which led to a reduction in the tax liabilities of Labianca Limited.
The OSP faulted a Deputy Commissioner of Customs in charge of Operations, Joseph Adu Kyei, for issuing what it described as unlawful customs advance ruling which reduced the benchmark values of the frozen foods imported by Labianca Limited, thereby reducing the company’s tax obligations to the state, reports Graphic Online’s Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson.
“The OSP finds that there is strong evidence to suggest that Mr Kyei’s decision to issue a customs advance ruling for the applicant was procured through influence peddling or trading of influence by Ms Asomah-Hinneh by employing her position as a member of the Council of State and member of the Board of Directors of the GPHA,” the report, signed by the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, stated.
Source: Ghanaian Publisher