Resign Or Get Fired …Pressure Mounts On Council of State Member Fingered In Corruption

Spontaneous public calls for the immediate resignation of Council of State member, Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh, have intensified after the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP)  officially indicted one of her private companies, Labianca Company Limited, for corruption-related  and forced it to pay an amount of  GHC1,074,627.15 to the State.

The said amount was paid by Labianca Limited on March 31 this year, into the Asset Recovery Account of the OSP after investigations confirmed there had been a deliberate shortfall in revenue amounts the company was to have paid to the State but did not pay due to a possible influence peddling by the Council of State member.

“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”, former Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII)  and vocal anti-corruption crusader, Vitus Azeem has told Citi News.

Mr. Azeem explained that although it is positive news that the OSP’s investigations has recovered the said amount from Labianca to the State, asking the company to simply go and pay the amount for sleeping dogs to lie is not the best approach to deter potential tax evaders from engaging in acts of corruption.

He posited that a more stringent penalty including the resignation or sacking of the owner of the company, Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh from the Council of State would send a more trustworthy signal that Government is truly having a zero tolerance to acts of corruption.

A concerned citizen,  Frank Asare, the whistle-blower who petitioned the OSP to commence investigations into the conduct of Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh and her Labianca Limited has also added his voice for her resignation or dismissal.

He argued that the Council of State should have only members of integrity and high moral standing but not persons who have been found by state investigative bodies to have meddled in acts of corruption especially when the circumstances are believed to be an abuse of office  and conflict of interest situation.

The OSP among other sad findings, revealed that there is strong evidence to suggest that a decision by the Deputy Commissioner for Customs in charge of operations, Mr. Joseph Adu Kyei at the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA)  to issue a customs advance ruling for Labianca Company Limited  which led to the revenue shortfall “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 a member of the Board of Directors of Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority.”

The report said “On 21 March 2022 the Special Prosecutor issued an interim directive to Labianca Company Limited to pay an amount of One Million Seventy-Four Thousand cedis Six Hundred and Twenty-Seven cedis Fifteen pesewas (GHC1,074,627.15), representing the short collection or shortfall of revenue arising from the issuance of the unlawful customs advance ruling by the Deputy Commissioner for Customs in charge of operations, Mr. Joseph Adu Kyei into the Asset Recovery Account of the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

The report revealed how although the company was in operation since 2014, it was only in 2017 after Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh had become a politically exposed person  that the anomaly started.

“There was not much engagement with the Customs Division in the first three (3) years of the company’s operations beyond the settlement of standard customs duty and other tax obligations until 2017 when the company actively commenced applications to the Customs Division for the acceptance by the latter of the values of frozen foods it intended to import. By the time the company commenced the applications, Ms. Asomah-Hinneh had been elected a member of the Council of State representing the Western Region and appointed a member of the governing board of Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority – positions she held at all material times. On this reckoning, Ms. Asomah-Hinneh is a politically exposed person as defined under section 79 of Act 959.

“It would appear that the coincidence of the indicated applications and the public office appointments of Ms. Asomah-Hinneh was not altogether accidental. There is strong evidence to suggest that the events are a product of influence peddling”, the OSP established.

Although Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh has maintained tight lips over the development and calls for her resignation, she was quoted by the Daily Graphic to have said she was yet to see the OSP’s report and therefore is unable to pass comment.

“I cannot give any comment because I have not seen any report from the Special Prosecutor. I do not even know that the report is out

“I have not been around, but the office is there and so next Monday or Tuesday I will call and ask them. It is the management so I will ask them”  she was quoted by Graphic Online.

Meanwhile, the OSP report said Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh was contacted as part of the investigations and she turned up with her lawyer:

“Ms. Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh was interviewed on 19 January 2022 in the presence of her Counsel, Mr. Owusu Adokoh of Rosentesia Law Firm, Accra. Ms. Asomah-Hinneh was considered a necessary person to the investigation as the beneficial owner and Chief Executive of Labianca and in respect of whom the complainant had alleged corruption and corruption-related offences in favour of Labianca by employing her high standing as a member of the Council State and a member of the Board of Directors of Ghana Ports and Harbours  Authority.”

 

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