Enoch Teye Mensah, a former Minister of Works and Housing, has denied claims that the controversial $200 million Saglemi housing project was planned to have been executed in phases.
“I was not involved in any phasing system because we knew that we wanted to build 5,000 houses for the work force of the country which was approved by the Executive and Parliament and if I wanted to change the plan I had to go through the same processes again,” he noted.
The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General has sued Alhaji Collins Dauda, a former Minister of Works and Housing and his successor Dr Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah, and three others for wilfully causing financial loss to the state over the Saglemi Affordable Housing Project.
The others were Alhaji Ziblim Yakubu, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Works and Housing, Andrew Clocanas, the Executive Chairman of Construtora OAS, the Brazilian Construction firm associated with the project and Nouvi Tetteh Angelo, Director of RMS, Engineering, Procurement and Construction, consultancy subcontractor of the project.
Alhaji Dauda is accused of intentionally misapplying the project sum of $200 million by causing the said amount, which had been approved by Parliament for construction of 5,000 housing units, to be applied towards payment of 1,412 housing units under the Saglemi Affordable Housing Project.
Mr Mensah insisted that the project was not to be executed in phases and was not aware of any phasing system but done once and described as false any phasing system of the project.
Last year, Atta Akyea, disclosed that all former government appointees and officials involved in the Saglemi housing project were being investigated by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service and described the project as a rip-off, which did not measure up to cost purported to have been invested.
He also condemned habit of new governments discontinuing projects started by previous administrations in relation to former President Agyekum Kufuor’s uncompleted housing structures, saying “the evidence is clear late Mills and Mahama-led administrations did not continue it”.
Mr Akyea maintained that then New Patriotic Party (NPP) government did not abandon the project but the National Democratic (NDC) government ripped the country off in executing it. –classfmonline.com
