Blow Over SADA Cash

The Deputy Minority Leader in Parliament, Dominic Nitiwul, has locked horns with the immediate past Chairman of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), Alhassan Andani, over the integrity of the authority�s projects. While the Deputy Minority Leader finds it unusual the dual chairmanship of the Rlg Foundation and SADA by Alhassan Andani and the alleged subsequent direction of juicy projects to the Rlg Group of Companies, the man who is also the Managing Director of Stanbic Bank denies any wrongdoing. When he appeared on Joy Fm�s Newsfile programme last Saturday, Mr. Nitiwul was fired up, taking exceptions to the management of the authority and pointing out especially, Mr. Andani�s dual role of the chairmanship of the Rlg Foundation and SADA. This, he alleged, enabled him (Andani) to direct juicy projects to the AGAMS Group of Companies under the umbrella of Rlg. He debunked Mr. Andani�s reaction that the Rlg Foundation had no legal basis querying, �How can you make such a claim when you accepted to chair it?� Continuing, the MP recalled what for him was the legal basis of the existence of the Rlg Foundation � something at variance with Mr. Andani�s position when he referred to the fact that it was established in 2012 as a legal entity. Its scale of reference, he went on, was to direct and manage Rlg community social investment programme under the chairmanship of Mr. Alhassan Andani. Mr. Nitiwul recalled the sinking of a borehole at Roland Agambire�s birthplace in Sirigu and posed the following questions: �Where is the GH�33m for the planting of trees, GH�15m for guinea fowl rearing, GH�3m for butternut trees and GH�19m for Mahindra tractors?� in his bid to expose what for him had been worrying instances of malfeasance in the management of SADA. He alleged again that GH�75 million SADA money had been sitting in a call account since 2012 while according to him, �the new SADA officials came to Parliament to complain about lack of resources�. Continuing, he said that the board was made up of Alhassan Andani as chairman with the membership made up of Roland Agambire, Prosper Harrison Addo, Mrs. Nanahemaa Adwoa Awindor, Kwaku Ofosu-Adarkwa, Erick Houdjeto and Kwame Amankwah-Twum. Denials However, the immediate past Board Chairman of SADA, Mr. Andani debunked the charges leveled against his stewardship, especially the accusation that he diverted SADA money to the AGAMS Group, the parent company of Rlg Communications. He said the allegations made by Deputy Minority Leader, Dominic Nitiwul, on Joy FM and MultiTV�s news analysis programme � Newsfile, were a complete fabrication, designed to tarnish his reputation. The Stanbic Bank Managing Director explained there was no existing legal entity called Rlg Foundation of which he is the Chairman. What he chaired, according to him, was a �Water for All Project� launched by Rlg, adding however that the company later changed its plans and decided to execute this project through Parliamentarians. If Rlg went ahead to put this information on its website he would not know, he stated. He insisted his involvement in this matter was only to the extent that he chaired the �launch of the project which did not even materialize�. It is therefore palpably false, he said, for anybody to argue that he chaired an Rlg Foundation and lobbied investment into Rlg�s parent company � AGAMS Group. The board of SADA has been reconstituted following the allegations and counter-allegations that have engulfed the authority since its inception. It is headed by a corporate lawyer and former Deputy Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mrs. Angelina Mornah Domakyaareh.