THE EXECUTIVE secretary of the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC), Asakkua Agambila has said Nana Emmanuel Wood whose two companies, Holex Ghana Limited and Priorities Ghana Limited benefited from a judgment debt sum of GH�3.4 million is not known by the DIC.
The two companies were suspected to be engaged in fraudulent timber business at Akim Oda and had their equipment confiscated, but the owner Nana Emmanuel Wood took the matter to court and had default judgment.
Mr. Agambila who appeared before the commission yesterday said, the two companies have not been a subject of divestiture, and therefore have not been listed for divestiture.
According to him, upon reading the issues about the case, his outfit would believe that at the time that the companies were confiscated, it is most likely that they would have been handed over to the confiscated access committee and not to divestiture committee as purported.
The executive secretary said the confiscated assets committee is still alive; thus, it is operational, and appealed to the commission chaired by Justice Yaw Apau to invite them since it would be able to assist the commission in finding out what actually happened to the companies.
He told the commission that they do not know any man called Emmanuel Wood and do not have his particulars in their records.
Asked by the Sole Commissioner when he became the executive secretary of Divestiture Implementation Committee, he replied, �My Lord, I have been the executive secretary since June 2009, but I had been employed with divestiture earlier than that like 2006.��
Again, when asked if he was aware that Nana Wood went to court and obtained judgment against the state, the witness replied in the negative, saying, �We are not aware and that we have not sighted any records of such payments. But, we did not make the divestiture and sometimes when payments are made in divestiture related issues we may be informed, but we have not seen a record of this payment after a diligent search.�
When Justice Apau enquired from him whether, �On December 29, 2006, a letter written by the controller and accountant-general�s department, directing the bank to release funds for payment of outstanding judgment debt was copied to your outfit for Nana Wood to be paid the sum of �34, 758, 343,331 as a judgement debt payment,� he said �My Lord, we believe that they copied us because of consequence, we were not directed to take any action or not to take any action, but if we search the records we might find that out.
�We were not consulted before the decision to pay was taken, we were only informed to take note.��
The commissioner contended that if they had nothing to do with the said company, �why were they copied? Was the controller of the view that DIC handled the confiscated property?�
Mr. Agambila said, �Our records show that the company was never handed over to us for a divestiture and in those days when companies were confiscated, they were handed over to the confiscated committee, they did not give them to divestiture and we did not receive confiscated assets directly and so maybe the controller was mistaken, we did not know why we were copied.�
He asked the committee to use its powers to request the confiscated committee to come and give evidence about the case, adding that there is a schedule officer who manages all their particulars who has a desk at the Osu castle.
In a related development, the Attorney General�s Department who were to appear in respect of African Automobile Limited and a judgment debt payment to Nana Emmanuel Wood failed to appear with no reason. The case has been adjourned to July 15.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning who was also to assist the commission in compensation sum to some families at the Aveyime livestock project also failed to appear and was adjourned to July 23. Hearing continues today.
<<Print>>