The former Ashanti Regional Minister has accused the new Mayor of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly Mr Osei Assibey of political dishonesty in a new judgement debt scandal that has rocked the Assembly.
Alexander Ackon says the KMA was already dying when his government took office and must not be blamed for the current poor state the Assembly finds itself.
While admitting that the Assembly was heavily indebted, he was quick with a vehement denial that the judgement debt rose from 6 million cedis to over 50 million cedis in the last three months of the NDC administration.
Supporting a view shared by Francis Dodovi, a former government appointee to the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, the former Regional Minister said when they took over, the KMA had over 44 court cases of judgment debt hanging around its neck and wondered why his administration would be blamed for the sad state of affairs the KMA currently finds itself.
He was reacting to a sessional address by the new KMA boss Osei Assibey which painted a heartbreaking report of judgment debts that was threatening the very survival of the Assembly.
According to him, the Assembly was saddled with Judgment debts to the tune of ?6.4 million cedis which has now ballooned to over 50 million cedis in the last three months of 2016.
The initial debt was borne out of court cases bordering on the;
Failure of the Assembly to meet its financial obligations to contractors and service providers who had performed their side of the contracts between 1992 and 2012.
Abrogation of contracts
Frustration/obstruction of contractors on site; specifically the seizure of public latrine project sites by some Assembly and Unit Committee Members.
Perfunctory handling of court cases (including a few appeals of these cases by the Assembly’s Legal Department
As a result of these debts, the Assembly was faced with an imminent takeover of its assets by the judgment creditors whilst an amount of GH? 1.2 million had already been garnisheed to pay two of the judgment creditors between January and August 2016.
As if that is not enough, a summary report of KMA’s Financial Liabilities as at 31st December 2016 stood at ?119.2 million cedis accumulated over several years.
Again within a space of three months i.e. October to December 2016, the judgment debt stock of the KMA rose from GHS6.4 million cedis to GHS50.6 million cedis an increase of a whopping 44 million cedis.
These figures are likely to increase as other judgments are given in favour of the plaintiffs in the pending cases, Joy News has learnt.
But the former Regional Minister is contesting the figures of the last three months of his administration but admits the history of maladministration of the Assembly dates back several years.
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