It has emerged that monies paid by Ghana Consolidated Diamonds Ghana
Limited (GCDGL), a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies to
acquire defunct Great Consolidated Diamonds (GCD) at Akwatia in the
Eastern region is missing.
Director-General of the State Interests and Governance Authority
(SIGA), Stephen Asamoah Boateng, revealed this on Adom FM’s morning
show, Dwaso Nsem, Friday.
His comment follows government’s decision to take over operations of
the diamond mine after management of GCDGL failed to fulfill its part of
the bargain.
Government, through the Divestiture Implementation Committee in 2010,
sold assets of then Ghana Consolidated Diamonds Limited (GCDL) to
Jospong Group led GCDGL for $17,000,000, but only $2, 700,000 was
initially paid.
Also, under the terms and conditions in the contract signed by both
parties in December 5, 2011, management of GCDGL promised to invest $100
million over a five-year period and create 2,500 direct jobs and 50,000
indirect jobs.
However, when the Jospong Company took over the operations of the GCD
in August 2011, it failed to pay its outstanding debt and also failed to
fulfill the promise.
After pleas by the chiefs and people of Akwatia, the government has asked GCDGL to stop operations.
Even more worrying, Mr Boateng said, is the government’s inability to trace the $2, 700,000 paid by the Jospong Group.
“The $2, 700,000 they paid cannot be traced. I have checked and it was not paid into the Consolidated Fund,” he added.
The SIGA Director-General said they have initiated steps to retrieve
the money due to calls by the chiefs and people of Akwatia for an audit
to take inventory of assets sold by the companies.
As an immediate measure, Mr Boateng said they have formed an Interim
Management Committee (IMC), made up of experts from the fields of law,
mining, surveying, finance and security to oversee the management of the
firm.
The new committee, he added, will be allowed to do its work without
interference but will take regular reports from the IMC. Mr Boateng
urged the people of Akwatia to heave a sigh of relief as they work to
get an investor to revamp the diamond mine.
