Betty Mould-Iddrisu settled Isofoton SA with $400,000 – Matthew Opoku-Prempeh reveals

MP for Manhyia, Matthew Opoku Prempeh The Member of Parliament for Manhyia, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has revealed that former Attorney-General Betty Mould-Iddrisu sanctioned the payment of some $400,000 as out of court settlement to Isofoton SA even before she could set up a committee to verify whether Isofoton deserved any money. He was speaking on Metro TV's Good Morning Ghana current affairs show. Dr. Opoku-Prempeh said after the former A-G had sanctioned the payment, she then set up a committee to look into whether Isofoton deserved further payment, and the committee’s report indicated that Isofoton SA did not deserve any payment, but Betty Mould-Iddrisu did not make any effort to retrieve the $400,000. The MP said when Martin Amidu took over as Attorney-General, he took the Isofoton case back to court for the court to determine whether Isofoton contract was an international contract, and if it was, whether it had Parliamentary approval. Matthew Opoku-Prempeh said if the Isofoton contract was indeed an international contract but did not have Parliamentary approval then it was illegal and Isofoton does not deserve money from Ghana. He said copies of documents covering the payment Betty Mould-Iddrisu ordered for Isofoton and all the related documents are in the possession of the NPP, and they would go public with them soon. The MP wondered why Betty Mould-Iddrisu was so quick to do settlements and recommend payment of huge moneys to individuals and institutions without due diligence. He said the fact that under her watch, government lost more than 13 court cases against individuals and institutions indicate either there are deficiencies at the A-G’s department, or there was deliberate connivance between some people in power and external forces to do the country in. Isofoton garnishes MOFA account Deputy Minister of Information, James Agyenim-Boateng Meanwhile Deputy Minister of Information, James Agyenim Boateng has also revealed that Isofoton SA ‘garnished’ an account belonging to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to influence the government to expedite action on the payment of its $1.3million judgement debt. The Deputy Minister said Isofoton SA took advantage of the previous Farmer’s Day celebrations to garnish that account so MOFA could not use the money to celebrate the day. But he noted that the account that Isofoton garnished was specifically dedicated to Ghana-Japan cooperation, so the Japanese government is currently in court seeking redress on whether Isofoton has the right to garnish that particular account. “That case will be determined on Friday – but the substantive case about the breach of contract with Isofoton is not in court,” he said. James Agyenim-Boateng also made the statement on Metro TV's Good Morning Ghana to defuse claims that the Isofoton judgement debt case is in court, saying that it is rather the Japanese government that has taken Isofoton to court over the garnishing of Ghana-Japan cooperation account. The Deputy also read a number of documents to buttress his claim that Chief of Staff at the Presidency under the NPP government, Mr. Kojo Mpiani unilaterally and illegally abrogated the legitimate Isofoton SA contract and ordered MOFA to transfer the contract to two other Spanish companies, Elecnor and Incatema Indema. He said the Spanish government wrote a formal letter to the then Minister of Finance, the late Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu and complained about the illegality, and also declared their intention to sue the Ghana government in Ghana, as well as Elecnor and Incatema Indema in Spain, but nothing was still done about it.