Two Major Investigations Led By Okudzeto Ablakwa That Have Saved Ghana Millions

As a basic term of reference for his job as a Member of Parliament, they may not include investigating big cases of financial misappropriations, or those believed to be linked to corruption; at least not unilaterally.

But Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the MP for North Tongu, has earned for himself a national admiration for being someone who has established as an efficient investigating skill, keeping the government of the day on their toes.

For the greater part of 2022 and 2023, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP has been on the heels of the government, including President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, ensuring that they are as accountable to the citizenry as possible.

Luxurious private jet scandals of Akufo-Addo:

Known as the ‘Akufo-Addo luxurious private jet scandals,’ Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa started publishing details of what were the private jet travels of President Nana Akufo-Addo to other parts of the world.

The serial posts by the MP usually detailed the supposed costs of each of the travels of the president, on those hired private jets, including the names of the jets and for how long he travelled on them.

For instance, in a Monday, April 4, 2022, report put together by GhanaWeb, the North Tongu MP alleged that the total cost of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's international trips with the use of a private jet cost the Ghanaian taxpayer GH¢28.5million.

"It is imperative to note that so far, the Ghanaian taxpayer must cough up an astronomical US$465,000 in luxury rental charges. At [the] current exchange, that is a scary GH¢3,505,515.49.

"This will mean that since May last year, the Ghanaian taxpayer has spent at least GH¢28.5million on President Akufo-Addo’s ostentatious travels," he said.

In another report on Friday, June 24, 2022, the MP again shared details on how the president had used a private jet for two trips, to Belgium and Rwanda, costing the Ghanaian taxpayer €480,000, equivalent to GH¢4.1 million Ghana cedis.

He had also earlier posted on his social media handle that the president had switched from his preferred Luxemburg-based flier to a German-based operator.

"Probably thinking he will escape our unimpeachable surveillance if he switched companies, President Akufo-Addo on this occassion decided to abandon his favourite LX-DIO operated by Global Jet Luxembourg and opted for German-based private jet operator — K5-Aviation.

"As usual, President Akufo-Addo ordered their top-of-the-range and most expensive aircraft in their collection — the Airbus ACJ319. It is registered D-Alex," his post read in part.

In terms of the cost of those trips to Belgium and Rwanda, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said that the taxpayer was paying €20,000 per hour for the service. The total flight time of some 21 hours, he added, came up to €480,000.

"This luxury monster is costing the Ghanaian taxpayer €20,000 an hour.

"For President Akufo-Addo’s current trip to Belgium and Rwanda beginning Sunday the 19th of June, 2022 to attend the 15th Edition of the European Development Days Forum in Brussels, Belgium, and the 26th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations in Kigali, Rwanda; we can confirm a conservative bill of €480,000.00.

"The 480,000 Euros which is derived from 21 hours of total flight time plus other industry charges works out to some 4.1million Ghana Cedis at the current exchange rate," his post stressed.

Overwhelming outrage of Ghanaians forces Akufo-Addo to fly commercial - Okudzeto Ablakwa

A report by GhanaWeb on Friday, May 6, 2022, showed that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had decided to use a commercial flight for one of his travels, following mounting public pressure on him.

In a post on his social media handles, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP expressed his happiness over the fact that President Akufo-Addo decided to go with a commercial flight for his trip to the United States of America.

Giving credit to what he described as the “overwhelming outrage of the Ghanaian people,” he said the taxpayer has been spared millions ($442,00 in expenses from the trip.

“I can confirm that President Akufo-Addo appears to have listened to good counsel from an overwhelming number of outraged Ghanaians and so flew commercial aboard United Airlines on his current trip to the United States.

“At generous conservative estimates, the Ghanaian taxpayer has been spared some US$442,000.00 which translates to savings of 3.3million Ghana Cedis,” he wrote.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa also indicated his joy at the revelation that on this trip, the president did not go via a commercial plane and then joined another private jet to his final destination like he allegedly did in previous instances.

“Further tracking and our usually unimpeachable surveillance also reveals that he hasn’t done a “meet me there” on this particular travel as he has completely avoided his favourite ultra-luxury toys which he seems addicted to in recent years.

“Considering the President’s profligate and obstinate track record, we should probably consider his latest conduct as a Damascus experience, especially as he was on his way to speak at the Museum of the Bible, where he declared himself a Christian in politics,” he added.

The GH¢187 million ‘Kitchen Scandal’:

The North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has also saved Ghana the payment of GH¢187 million in judgement debts through his publication on a transaction between the government and a private company, Blue Skye, which he describes as the 'kitchen scandal'.

In a social media publication, Ablakwa alleged that Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, cousin of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was seeking to enforce payment of GH¢187.3 million judgment debt to his client, West Blue, even though the current government has varied the contract.

He said that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government did a value-for-money audit on the contract in question and conclude that West Blue rather owes the government of Ghana and not the other way round.

"The Kitchen Scandal is a tale of betrayal, bravado, double standards, influence peddling, dishonesty, greed, collusion, arm-twisting, naked nepotism and blatant rape of the public purse.

"The Kitchen Scandal will afford us a rare insight into how President Akufo-Addo’s 'Kitchen Cabinet' operates and how destructive they have been to national progress," the MP’s introductory paragraphs in the exposé read.

Ablakwa also alleged that the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, has, so far, issued three legal opinions in favour of Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko.

The advice is in support of claims being made by Gabby's law firm, Africa Legal Associates (ALA) as it seeks to exact an amount of GH¢187m from the government for West Blue, a company previously contracted by the John Dramani Mahama government for port services.

He cited how Gabby who had in 2015 sternly opposed the West Blue deal, had years on become lawyer for the company and was seeking damages for the company in respect of a contract that the current government varied after coming into office.

He accused Dame of issuing these opinions irregularly stating that the December 16, 2022, advice, in particular, was without recourse to "inputs from the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority as both institutions had not submitted their written arguments."

The MP in an interview on GHOne TV on Monday, August 5, 2023, disclosed that the process to pay the over GH¢187 million judgment death has halted due to his publication.

“… the GH¢187.3 million that I have just protected by exposing the 'Kitchen scandal’. I mean when I check with my sources in the system, government has now backed off … the GRA is no more been given pressure to pay the money.

“And the GRA folks are so grateful for this exposé … that is GH¢187.3 million that can now be used for example, to pay road contractors who are owed, school feeding suppliers who owed, all these abandoned projects all over the place.

Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.



Source: ghanaweb.com