I was on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana with the Spokesperson to the Vice President of the Republic and he made some comments which I found most lamentable and I hope his boss shares this view.
John Abu Jinapor was asked by Shamima Muslim, the host, to comment on the visit to Ghana of John Clark QC, the lead counsel in the Mabey & Johnson criminal trial in the United Kingdom last year, where some Ghanaian government officials were among those mentioned by directors of M&J to have been receivers of bribes in the UK company’s bid to win multi-million pound contracts in Ghana in the past.
The man who speaks for our Vice President, John Mahama, described Mr Hardy as a discredited lawyer. “If I were the Danquah Institute I would not have invited this character to Ghana to deliver a lecture,” the young JJ said, with contempt in his voice and on his face.
On the same day, another NDC paper, The Post, had described Mr Hardy as a half-backed lawyer because a colleague apparently instructed by George Sipa-Yankey, the respected Owen Davies QC, who joint-heads the Garden Court chambers with the able Courtenay Griffiths QC (Charles Taylor’s lawyer), had, on instructions of the Ghanaian official, written a letter complaining about the name-dropping method of the prosecution.
Frankly, this reaction from Ghana’s ruling party, particularly, the Spokesperson, threw me into a funk. Was Mr Jinapor expressing the sentiments of the Castle to Mr Hardy’s visit? His comments that Mr Hardy was brought to Ghana “clandestinely” to, effectively, cause damage to the Government perhaps exposes his bosses’ sincere commitment to the fight against corruption. I could only ask: what does that say about our President’s commitment to fighting corruption?
According JJ and people who think like him, Mr Hardy’s crime was for mentioning the names of the Ghanaian public officials in court. The directors of M&J had confessed to bribing foreign public officials and volunteered documents, including payments made into personal bank accounts, as evidence of some of the individuals they allegedly bribed. Have the Ghanaians cited denied receiving any of the funds mentioned.
It is true that they were not given a right to reply because they were not parties to the case. That is rather unfortunate but they have every opportunity to ‘correct’ that.
It does not stop any of them from suing the directors of M&J in a UK court for defamation. One would also expect that the decision by CHRAJ to investigate the matter in Ghana should be seen as offering an opportunity to those who have been wrongly accused to clear their names.
John Jinapor and those who think like him have every right to describe the British as hypocrites for anonymising the names of the M&J directors (even under the pretext of pending individual prosecutions) and gleefully naming the foreign officials.
But, they should do their party’s stated commitment to fighting corruption a favour by, first, not discrediting an accomplished professional like John Hardy, and, second, by urging government to bring down the implicated M&J directors to Ghana to face prosecution. Thei anger should be directed at the directors who named their heroes rather than the prosecutor who used the information for the Crown’s case.
Ghana was the actual victim of the corruption to which the directors have confessed. The UK was not a direct victim. We have an extradition treaty with the UK, which is usually invoked for the benefit of the foreign party. For a change, this is an opportunity to invoke it for our benefit and bring those people to book right here in Ghana.
Indeed, Government would be better advised to not set loose its serial callers and hounds like JJ to use ‘half-baked’ reasoning to attack the character and integrity of John Hardy. They should, like CHRAJ, see how they can possibly benefit from the experience of people like John Hardy, to begin the process of extradition for those former directors to face trial here.
Mr Hardy, a recorder (part time judge) and Queen’s Counsel, can never be the sort of character the Spokesperson of the Vice President was struggling to portray him. He is a well-respected international criminal law specialist, an expert on mutual legal assistance, the very area that CHRAJ says it’s been struggling to get information from the UK SFO. His meeting with CHRAJ this morning is, at least, a clear indication that Emile Short and his team see his value to our national efforts against corruption.
He has instructed in a number of lengthy and complex fraud prosecutions as well as continuing his criminal practice, particularly in extradition where his expertise spans over 15 years.
He also appears for both prosecution and defence in major criminal trials and has extensive experience in money laundering cases. His lectures in Ghana were just following a trend. He is in demand as an expert witness on matters of United Kingdom extradition and criminal law in foreign jurisdictions, as well as being a regular contributor to lectures and seminars around the world.
Now let me move to the essence of the trip that Mr Jinapor accompanied his boss to Korea. John Mahama, we are told, went to Korea to sign an MoU for 200,000 affordable homes, valued at $10 billion to be built by STX, a Korean company. This is a five-year project that should lead to 40,000 additional homes built between now and 2015 yearly. This would be a major boost to tackling our housing deficit and I pray for its success.
But, how affordable is this deal? Secondly, we are dealing with a company which claims to have assets of about $2.6 billion and debts of some $7 billion. This is surely a company in crisis which is looking to Ghana for some miraculous salvation.
We are also told that the MoU requires the Government of Ghana to buy 90,000 of the homes in advance. Already it is music to the years of the police, prison guards, etc. Decent accommodation at last! The first 30,000 would go to the security agencies, with 20,000 for the Police Service.
But, let us apply the brakes and wipe the windscreen a bit. That Government pre-financing could cost Ghana $4.5 billion. From where does the Mills-Mahama government intend to raise that kind of money? We need to know now where and how.
This $4.5 billion would more than double Ghana's total external debt! Our total foreign exchange reserves are less than $2.5 billion! Something does not add up. If we had that kind of money why should we not be looking at building the units ourselves? If the Koreans are giving us a loan, we need to what the terms are.
Could, as predicted by the President, this trip by the Veep really be the final nail in the coffin of this Korean deal, meaning it has only exposed it as unreal?
Moreover, the $50,000 price tag at current HFC cedi mortgage rates over 15 years means that workers will pay some 15 million cedis monthly! How many workers can afford this? The questions only expose the lack of transparency surrounding this deal which has received more positive publicity than the IFC and CNTC loans put together.
The Koreans see this deal as good because it provides the company which is currently in a financial bind with some much needed liquidity from the upfront payment. If we have that kind of loose money lying around let us for a change believe in Ghana and make this project home-grown, because, after all, technology can be bought.
My advice to Government is to make the details of the MoU public and to stop the cheap politics and provide details of how this wonderful project would see the light of day rather than being coffin-nailed. As it is now, some things just don’t add up. qanawu@gmail.com
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