Two persons, a former secretary
to the Komenda Sugar Project Management Board, Ransford Chatman Vanni-Amoah and
former special assistant to the minister, ministry of trade & industry,
Alhaji Mohammed Naziru have petitioned the appointment committee of parliament
to reject the nomination of Alan Kyerematen as minister-designate for trade and
industry.
According to the two, the trades
ministry through the former deputy minister, Mr Robert Ahomka-Lindsay in August
2017 “lied” about the operations of the Komenda sugar factory and Mr Kyerematen
did nothing about it.
According to the two, during the
vetting of Mr Ahomka-Lindsay in 2017, he told the appointment committee that
“We have never put cane sugar through the full system of the Komenda Sugar.
That’s the first thing we have to note,” and that the sugar Mr Samuel Atta
Mills, the then MP for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem who asked a question about
the factory tasted at that time, “the government of Ghana bought semi-processed
sugar; then part of it was used to process, and that is part of what you
tasted.”
But the petitioners said the
Komenda Sugar factory produced sugar during the test run season and the former
minister must provide documents to prove that the previous government purchased
semi-processed sugar.
They added that the current
state of the processing plant of the Komenda Sugar Factory makes it impossible
to process semi-processed sugar.
The petitioners are of the view
that Mr Kyerematen supervised a ministry that peddled falsehood about Komenda
Sugar Factory.
“He must retract that misleading
statement and render an unqualified apology to the good people of Ghana. If he
insists on the statement made by his former deputy, kindly ask him to provide
evidence. We can assure the committee that, he does not have any evidence to
back this allegation,” the petitioner stated.
Mr Kyerematen is expected to appear before the appointment
committee on Friday, 26 February 2021.
Read the full petition below:THE
CHAIRMAN, APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT, PARLIAMENT HOUSE – ACCRA
Dear Sir,
JOINT-PETITION TO REJECT THE
NOMINATION OF MR. ALAN KYEREMANTEN AS A MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
We write to petition the
Appointments Committee of Parliament to reject the nomination of Mr Alan
Kyerematen as a Minister of Trade and Industry.
Mr Chairman, our petition is
based on the fact that the nominee engaged in negative propaganda against the
now-abandoned Komenda Sugar Factory in order to discredit the previous
government.
Mr Chairman, on Thursday, 10th
August 2017, the Former Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Robert
Ahomka-Lindsay appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of
Parliament to provide answers to a report by the Auditor General pertaining to
the Ministry of Trade and Industry, its allied institutions and agencies.
In the course of the proceedings
of the Committee and in answering questions from members of the Committee, Mr
Ahomka-Lindsay made some untrue statements which have the potential to mislead
the Committee.
Mr Chairman, we wish to
emphasise that the answers given by the former Deputy Minister of Trade and
Industry relative to a question on the operations of the Komenda Sugar Factory,
was a deliberate attempt to mislead the Committee and the good people of Ghana.
We produce below the question
asked by Honourable Member of Parliament for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem
Constituency, Hon. Samuel Atta Mills and the subsequent answer given to the
Committee by Mr Robert Ahomka-Lindsay for your perusal. Question:
‘My name is Samuel Atta Mills
and I’m the MP for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem. Now, let me ask about Komenda
Sugar Factory. In 2016, I tasted some of the sugar from Komenda Sugar Factory.
In 2016, I know that the Ministry or Parliament approved, I think about Twenty-Four
million dollars to get the farmers to produce sugarcane for Komenda Sugar
Factory. I drive pass it and this sugar factory is not operating. Mr. Minister,
Mr. Chief Director, tell us the true state of Komenda Sugar Factory and what is
going on.”Answer;
“Chair, I’m happy to answer. I
hadn’t quite brought my documents. Chair, I’m led by you. Thank you very much
and I want to thank the chair for the question… here is the current reality of
Komenda Sugar. • The sugar you tasted at that time, the government of Ghana
bought semi-processed sugar; then part of it was used to process, and that is
part of what you tasted.
We have never put cane sugar
through the full system of the Komenda Sugar. That’s the first thing we have to
note.
• The second area we have to note
is that, the total land area for that Komenda Sugar of 2,000 doesn’t have the
capacity to produce the cane sugar.
• The third area I want to talk
about is that, there was a nursery started, but the nursery grew the same
variety that has always been grown around the Komenda area. The Indian company
that was brought in, brought in a little bit of a variety from India that they
grew. But the process of a proper nursery to identify the actual variety was
never done.
• So, we have currently, there
were 125 acres that were set aside for nursery. 25 of it, is ready to be
transplanted to the 2,000. The problem we have is that if we transplant those
25 to 2,000 is basically a waste of money because the sugar content of the
variety as we know is not to the level needed to make commercial operation of
Komenda.
• But in the interim, we are not
going to sleep in terms of where it is. We want to look at the way of doing
exactly what you referred to where you tasted the sugar. As interim, as a
government we can look at bringing in perhaps a management agreement with the
viewpoint of operating this even if we bring in semi-processed cane sugar, they
will process it so that we get some sugar. And to that effect, I’ve sat down, I
think I can share this, my old company, Coca-Cola Company and with Diageo, and
they’ve agreed to work with us to make sure quality certification comes through
and they will buy sugar from Komenda so that we get some upside in terms of
where we are.”Mr. Chairman, from his answer, the Former Deputy Minister made
the following false claims;
1. “We have never put cane sugar
through the full system of the Komenda Sugar.”
2. “The Sugar you tasted at that
time, the government of Ghana bought semi-processed sugar; then part of it was
used to process and that is what you tasted.”
3. “…but the process of a proper
nursery to identify the actual variety was never done.”
4. “…the problem we have is that
if we transplant those 25 to 2,000 is basically a waste of money, because the
sugar content of the variety as we know is not to the level needed to make
commercial operation of Komenda.”
Mr. Chairman, we believe all
proceedings of the Committee are recorded and as such these statements would
have been captured by the records of the Committee. The facts as we know and
documented with pictures and audiovisual is provided below;
1. The Komenda Sugar factory
produced sugar during the test run season. The former minister must provide
documents to prove that the previous government purchased semi-processed sugar.
2. The current state of the
processing plant of the Komenda Sugar Factory makes it impossible to process
semi-processed sugar. In fact, after the commissioning of the factory,
management received proposals from other organisations willing to import
raw-sugar and refine in our sugar refinery. But the Seftech India Private
Limited who built the plant and have the technical know-how made management
aware that, some additional technical modifications were needed to be done
before any imported raw-sugar could be refined by the factory.
3. (i) The Komenda Sugar Factory
procured sugarcanes from farmers within Central and Western Regions and one of
the local companies contracted for haulage services was Perrilines Limited.
Perrilines Limited alone hauled between 1,300 to 1,400 tons of sugarcane. Other
three companies were G-Kads Limited, Hajia Schoco Company Limited and RUDAMS
Consult. These sugarcanes were crushed to produce the first-ever test-run sugar
for the Factory.
(ii) By the grace and mercy of
God, Mr. Perry Mensah, the Managing Director of Perrilines Limited who is a
known NPP member and an accomplished businessman in the Central Region is still
alive and can testify that the sugar which was showcased was produced by the
factory. He was also in charge of the boiler house of the factory.
(iii) Mr. Alan Kyerematen
constituted an interim management team for the factory in 2019 and Mr. Perry
Mensah was made a member. We believe his inclusion was due to his previous
involvement in the activities of the factory.
4. The Komenda Sugar Factory
produced bagasse to generate three (3) megawatts of energy for the operations
of the factory. Bagasse is only obtained after the extraction of sugar-bearing
juice from sugarcane. Did the former minister want to tell us that we imported the
bagasse too?
5. The Komenda Sugar Factory
produced molasses which is a byproduct of sugar obtained during the test run.
The molasses which tested positive were in high demand by local distillers.
Between 31st October and 4th November 2016, the Factory sold more than 500
barrels of molasses to the local distillers operating in communities in Central
Region such as Egyaa in the Mfantseman Municipality, Kissi in the K.E.E.A
Municipality and Putubiw in the Abura Asebu Kwamankese District.
6. The variety of sugarcane
available in the catchment area is B41227 and it is suitable for the production
of sugar.
The Degree Brix of the B41227
variety is 20%, Pol Percentage of sucrose is 12%, Purity is 80% and its Fibre
is of high quality and very resistant to pests.
7. The other two Indian
varieties CO-02014 and CO-86032 were brought for identification of suitable
material for operation. These two varieties have parameters almost like the
B41227. These were available at the factory’s 125-acre nursery farm. The
Seftech Agronomists made the Management Board aware at the time that, the local
variety which is B41227 is good for our climate condition and its sucrose
percentage can be improved although it is above standard. This is because every
suitable sugar cane should give 10% of the end product.
Mr Chairman, the facts as
provided above, clearly indicate that Mr Alan Kyerematen supervised a ministry
that peddled falsehood about Komenda Sugar Factory. He must retract that
misleading statement and render an unqualified apology to the good people of
Ghana. If he insists on the statement made by his former deputy, kindly ask him
to provide evidence. We can assure the committee that, he does not have any
evidence to back this allegation. Mr Chairman, the minister also submitted a
technical audit report to the house. We would like to ask the minister some
questions from the report on Komenda Sugar Factory which we find very
pertinent.On page 2, item 6 in the report laid before parliament on April 4,
2019, it reads; The Technical Audit Team proposed the following as matters for
consideration in developing the options for making the Komenda Sugar
Development Company Ltd operational.
• Complete installation by
Seftech
• Conduct trial and test runs •
Water for the factory• Land for sugarcane cultivation• Economics of importing
raw sugar for processing.• 6 months operation (campaign period 180 days) •
Management trainingPlease, we would like to ask the following questions;
1. Who constituted technical
audit team?
2. Were there representatives of
Seftech India Pvt Ltd (the contractor) present during the period when the
technical audit was carried out?
3. Has the Government of Ghana
communicated to the contractor to complete the supposed installations as stated
in the report?
4. When will Seftech India Pvt
Ltd come and complete the installation?
5. Since the assumption of
office by the current Minister of Trade and Industry, has the plant ever been
tested?
6. What is the purpose of
importing raw sugar to process at the Komenda Sugar Factory? Mr Chairman, under
the Factory Valuation Report on page 8 of the Report on Komenda Sugar Factory,
it was stated that the PwC (transaction adviser) provided a valuation report on
17th October 2016 which valued the cost of the plant and machinery at
US$34,678,400.00. Another valuation report was submitted on 15th September 2017
which the cost of the plant and machinery depreciated to US$12,029,715.00 as an
open market value and US$10,826,743.00 as a forced sale value.
1. Was this report really
emanated from the PwC?
2. What caused the plant and
machinery to be hugely depreciated to the sum of US$12,029,715.00, instead of
legal depreciating rate of 5-10% per annum?
3. If the value of the plant and
machinery could depreciate beyond 65% in 2017, what would be the value in 2020?
4. Was it a deliberate scheme by
the PwC and the Ministry of Trade and Industry to run down the company to
reduce its value?
5. Can this valuation report be
trusted by any well-meaning Ghanaian?
Mr Chairman, we doubt this
report emanated from an international recognised firm such as PwC. Because we
cannot wrap our heads around the fact that the same firm conducted two separate
valuations within eleven (11) months under two different regimes, and the cost
of the plant and machinery could depreciate to over 65%. This does not happen
anywhere. It could be somehow understandable if these valuations were done by
two separate firms. We do not want to believe that PwC did this to suit the
negative propaganda employed by Mr Alan Kyerematen.
Mr Chairman, it is our prayer
that all issues raised would be interrogated for the purpose of transparency
and accountability. The re-nomination of Mr Alan Kyerematen to the same
ministry poses a serious threat to the survival of the sugar factory. We also
pray that his nomination should be rejected by the Parliament of Ghana to serve
as a deterrent to others. He committed the following offences:
1. Financial Loss to the State
due to lack of serious attention to the factory, loss of time, inefficiency and
improper decision-making.
2. Financial Loss to the State
in allowing the national asset to deliberately debilitate, so as to reduce the
value and to sell it cheaply.
3. There are losses to the
economy from failure to operate the factory, thereby reducing national revenues
from lack of job-creating, manufacturing, continued importation of sugar,
reduced tax revenues, etc.
We are extremely confident that
this petition would be given the needed attention as we cannot sit unconcerned
for this sugar factory to rot away. Mr Chairman, due to our previous positions
at the Komenda Sugar Factory and the Minister’s Office, we shall fully
cooperate with your Committee to ascertain the truth.
We are confident that you will
deal with this petition in order for the Committee and the people of Ghana know
about the truth of the operations of Komenda Sugar Factory.
Kindly find as attachments,
documents, pictures, media reports and audiovisual evidence.Thank you.
Yours in service of Mother
Ghana,RANSFORD CHATMAN VANNI-AMOAH(FORMER MEMBER/ SECRETARY – KOMENDA SUGAR
PROJECT MANAGEMENT BOARD)(FORMER DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS & STRATEGY)
ALHAJI MOHAMMED NAZIRU(FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE MINISTER,MINISTRY OF
TRADE & INDUSTRY)
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