Family members of the former Member of Parliament for Chiana- Paga, Abuga Pele, who was handed six-year jail term for causing financial loss to the state, say they are saddened by the development and would consequently seek the face of God.
Mr. Pele, who was also the former National Coordinator of the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Agency (GYEEDA), was convicted on 19 counts including ‘willfully causing financial loss to the state’.
His accomplice, Philip Assibit, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill International Group, was also found guilty on six counts including defrauding by false pretences and accordingly sentenced to 12 years.
TV3’s Tanko Mohammed Rabiu reported from Paga Friday that the entire Chiana-Paga constituency was silent and moody after the sentencing of their former MP.
Younger brother of Abuga Pele, Apewe Pele who spoke to TV3 said the family cannot say anything for now but will leave everything to God.
“We will give it to God; we will let God handle it. The entire constituency, we are all sad because we were not expecting this; the imprisonment,” he told our correspondent.
He added “even if he’s guilty, they should have fined him but not sentence [him]”.
Mr. Apewe Pele has meanwhile blamed some people within the National Democratic Congress for the causing the imprisonment of Mr. Abuga Pele, grounding his claim on the fact that it was under the government of NDC that Mr. Pele was put before court, saying “they sent him to court”
Another family member, Michael Gantera also expressed his shock on the judgment, saying “We are so sad and we want something to be done about this. The country is not going the right way. We should not leave the facts and deal with lies.
“We the family members think the judgement given today by the court was unfair based on the evidences we all witnessed at the court”.
In his view, none of the prosecution witnesses was able to make a reasonable case against Mr. Pele, saying “the seven witnesses they brought none of them could point out work was not done and the money was paid.
“It was even said Abuga Pele could not sign a cheque for more than GHC20,000 so if payment was made, somebody made the payment and if he [Abuga Pele] authorized the payment to be made and those who made the payment did not know work was not done, why did they pay the money?” he questioned.
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