The MCE and Gang of Powerful Political Saboteurs in the Keta Municipal Assembly
Keta Municipal Assembly is gradually gaining reputation as fertile grounds for corrupt elements who use dubious means to siphon money from the public coffers under the supervision and full participation of the Municipal Chief Executive, Godwin Edudzi Effah, who is the political head of the assembly.
Hon. Godwin Edudzi Effah who was imposed on the assembly by the Volta Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Mr. Makafui Woanya, had partnered with same to perpetrate a lot of corrupt activities in the assembly.
The MCE, obviously power drunk, has no regards for structures in the Assembly. He unilaterally wrote to A.E.S.L (Architectural and Engineering Services Limited) to be a consultant on the renovation of the Public Works Department (P.W.D) yard at Keta and the construction of 6- unit classroom block at Abor E.P Basic School. He again unilaterally awarded the contracts at the cost of GHc 1,789,714.14 and GHc 599,333.53 respectively without any recourse to the Entity Tender Committee of the Assembly.
Why is the Assembly quiet on these illegal contracts which the Assembly did not approve?
The Presiding Member, Amos Ametsime, The F&A Chairman, Gilbert Keklie and the house leader, Benjamin Dzordzome have all taken kickback of Ghc 5,000.00 each from the MCE and have since kept quiet.
The inflated cost of the renovation of the said P.W.D yard alone could easily build a new modern fully furnished Office complex. Also, the 6-unit classroom block on paper has also changed to 3-unit classroom block on the ground with the same cost.
By the Public Financial Management Act, an institution cannot be committed financially for multiple year budget without approval from the Minister of Finance. In these cases, no approval was sorted from the Minister of Finance before such huge commitments were made, which would take the Assembly years to pay. To worsen the issue, there were no provisions made in the 2020 budget of the Assembly for such projects.
Obviously ignoring the Entity Tender Committee again, he unilaterally requested the supply of office equipments to the Assembly at the cost of Ghc 540,000.00 as well as a number of streetlights and football jerseys, also totaling about Ghc 500,000.00 in the last quarter of 2020 before the general elections.
Hon. Godwin Effah mostly uses stake holders consultation as a conduit to siphon huge sums of money from the Common Fund account purposely for his personal again. An attempt was made by the MCE to withdraw an amount of GHc 50,000.00 from the Assembly’s account during the Keta Trade Fair for which the Municipal Finance Officer (MFO) and the Municipal Coordinating Director (MCD) had declined. Their actions allegedly infuriated the MCE and made him to cause the arrest of the MFO and the MCD, the event led to the closure of the whole treasury. The closure of the Treasury has never happened in the history of Keta Municipal Assembly before.
It is only during the tenure of Hon. Godwin Edudzi Effah as MCE that the Keta Municipal Assembly is characterized with a lot of shameful and unlawful activities; it was only during his tenure of office that the Keta Municipal Assembly saw no infrastructural developmental projects done even though funds were released for the past two years; he awarded to himself contract to renovate his official bungalow to the tune of GHc 54,000.00; he was seen on video fighting over pre-mix fuel money, just to mention few.
He was also interviewed by Jubilee Radio on several occasions based on some of these allegations which are also before court now.
During the 2020 elections, Hon. Godwin Edudzi Effah without any consultation requested a contractor to go and work on some roads including Agorvinu road which is already on contract from CODA, and took Ghc 40,000.00 from the contractor but fail to pay for the services rendered since it was not part of the Assembly’s budget. This led to an attack on him by the angry contractor. It took the timely intervention of some onlookers to rescue him.The MCE has since realign the funds and direct it to payment of his illegal contracts, that is, renovation of PWD yard and 6-unit classroom at Abor.
Also, the MCE, Godwin Effah during COVID-19 era, hand picked contractors to work on the COVID-19 projects, which a known Communication Director of the New Patriotic Party, Keta Constituency, Innocent Papa Gobah’s Ahamu Construction Limited was awarded the contract to supply and install ten (10) poly tanks and drilling of two (2) boreholes, but have maliciously fail to execute the projects as a result of misunderstanding between him and Ahamu Company C.E.O concerning kickback. This is known to Elikem Sewordor, the Works Sub-Committee Chairman, the F&A Sub-Committee Chairman, Gilbert Keklie, the Presiding Member, Amos Ametsime, and the Volta Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Makafui Woanya but they are all quiet and pretending to be the saints.
Why is no one asking the MCE, Godwin Edudzi Effah to account for these monies when he is the Political head and the principal account holder?
Quite recently, eleven Assembly members of the Assembly signed a motion to pass vote of no confidence in the MCE concerning financial malfeasance, abuse of power, etc but that is being shielded by his Godfather, Makafui Woanya who is wittily diverting attention on Management so that Godwin Edudzi Effah could be appointed again as Municipal Chief Executive of Keta.
In another related rot in the Keta Municipal Assembly, Market Management Committee was formed by the Assembly Members chaired by the Presiding Member, Hon. Amos Ametsime without a single management staff being a member. The committee arrogated powers to themselves to be allocating stores in the municipality; they shared the stores at Abor and Keta among themselves, families and their cronies, and even collected revenues which data cannot be traced. The 2019 external audit report have captured Hon. Makafui Woanya, NPP Volta Regional Chairman for owing the assembly about GHC 4,800.00 for the Assembly’s store he has rented.
Since 2018, some stores which were supposed to be allocated to community members to alleviate poverty were shared to Hon. Amos Ametsime, Presiding Member, Hon. Gilbert Keklie, F&A Chairman, Hon. James Ocloo Akorli, Hon. Rockson Sosu Kuevor without paying a pesewa to the Assembly till date and the Assembly is losing revenue.
The Presiding Member of the Assembly Hon. Amos Ametsime who is the Zonal Council Chairman is also having two (2) GCRs book in his possession which he used for collection of revenue but have fail to account for them.
Revenues on the salt mining at Anlo Afiadenyigba is been collected but not accounted for by Hon. Gilbert Keklie, who is the F&A Chairman of the Assembly.
On the reclaimed land related issues, the government reclaimed land which is supposed to be managed by Lands Commission through the Land Use and Spatial Planning Committee have been taken over by the Development Planning Sub-Committee of the assembly, chaired by Hon. Makafui Waonya, who is a government appointee to the Assembly even though he is the Volta Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party.
The reclaimed land was also shared and cheaply sold among the gang of political saboteurs sucking dry the assembly and their cronies with the proceeds nowhere to be found. Typical example is the one acre of land Hon. Makafui Woanya the Volta Regional Chairman of the NPP has allocated to himself without paying anything to the Assembly, precisely, where the Sandcity Radio station owned by him is situated.
It is alleged that the Presiding Member, Hon. Amos Ametsime together with Hon. James Ocloo Akorli shared land proceeds totaling about GHC 60,000.00 received from certain investors among themselves. Also, GHC 20,000.00 was also shared to a so called Land Allocation Committee.
Hon. Gilbert Keklie who is the F&A Chairman of the Assembly also took a portion of the reclaimed land for his enterprise called Kekeli Consults Enterprise without paying anything to the assembly.
Innocent Papa Gobah (Ahamu Construction Limited), Elikem Sewordor (Elimar Supreme Ventures) have condone and connived with the MCE to transact a lot of illegal businesses in the Assembly.
The Volta Regional Chairman of the ruling NPP after mischievously organizing series of demonstrations against the Volta Regional Minister, which had proven futile and having realized that he was going to be disgraced based on the above allegations decided to vent his anger on the management by inciting the assembly members against the management. He quickly organized an emergency joint Works/Development Planning Sub-Committee meeting, Executive Committee meeting and General Assembly meeting, paid them with his own money to implicate and eventually sack management staffs so as to shield his rot and that of the MCE and some selected greedy assembly members.
Come to think of it, the Assembly is made up of the Legislative Arm, which is the Assembly Members and the Administrative Arm, which is Management. The two arms are expected to work together, so, in an event of any problem, it must be seen and analyzed from both arms.
The Keta Municipal Assembly Management is diversionarily been accused of financial mulfeasance, misappropriation etc. without mentioning the Municipal Chief Executive, who is the political head of the Assembly.
Could it be possible?
Even if the allegations were true, could it be perpetrated without the knowledge MCE?
Why are some assembly members up and armed against only Management of the assembly but skipping the MCE after they know all what he did in the assembly?
Keta Municipal Assembly as it stands now, is just a ghost of its glorious former self.
Let us #SaveKetaNow.
By Kɔdzogã Aƒeku Aŋlɔmegã
(024 400 8585)
