One Daniel Kwasi Amponiy has petitioned the Office of the Special Prosecutor to probe former Minister of Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea, over some contracts he allegedly signed during his tenure as minister.
The petitioner is claiming that the former Minister who is MP for Abuakwa South allegedly signed separate contracts totaling some $1 billion in 2018/2019 and that constituted financial malfeasance.
The petition, which was sent to the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, was signed by Daniel Kwasi Amponiy in his capacity as a citizen of Ghana, requested a probe and prosecution of the ex-minister for causing financial loss to the state.
According to the petitioner, the documents available to him showed that the MP allegedly violated the legislative functions of Parliament as stipulated in Article 93(2) of the Constitution by signing the supposed contracts.
“In actual fact, there is detection of official fraud and malfeasance by the actions of Hon. Samuel Atta Akyea, and it is a flagrant breach of section 179A (3) (a) of the Criminal and Other Offences Act (Act 29), 1960 (as amended).”
The petitioner’s letter to the Special Prosecutor said, “I am petitioning your good office with this written indictment of Hon. Samuel Atta Akyea who served as the Minister for Works and Housing until January 2021, and the current Member of Parliament of Akim Abuakwa South.”
“In September 19, 2019, ‘Whatsupnews’ in a publication with the headline; ‘Atta Akyea signs whopping US $1bn in total housing contract’ indicted the former Works and Housing Minister over alleged financial irregularities and malfeasance,” the petitioner alleged.
He further said “again, around the same time, there were a series of publications on a couple of online streaming platforms with the following headlines. ‘Atta Akyea signs two contracts again for August and December 2018 to the tune of $4.483 billion and $43.827 billion respectively without parliamentary approval’, and ‘Atta Akyea signs contract worth $961 million for the construction of houses without parliamentary approval in August 2018.’
“Reading through these news publications, and a couple of documents available to this petitioner, it is quite clear that the former Works and Housing Minister violated the legislative functions of Parliament as stipulated in Article 93(2) of the Constitution in signing the contracts in question,” the petitioner claimed, adding “In actual fact, there’s detection of official fraud and malfeasance by the actions of Hon. Samuel Atta Akyea, and it is a flagrant breach of section 179A (3)(a) of the Criminal and Other Offences Act (Act 29), 1960 (as amended).
“It is in this light that I’m petitioning your good office to look into this matter and if possible institute criminal action against Hon. Samuel Atta Akyea for causing financial loss to the state. Criminal misdemeanour should be accorded the seriousness it deserves by allowing the criminal justice system to interpret and assess its social impact and apportion punishment as prescribed by law. Which is why this petition needs to be treated with utmost urgency and seriousness.”