According to a statement issued on Monday June 3, 2019, in response to claims filed regarding the matter had gone missing, the AG denied that a report submitted to it by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) is missing.
Recent media reports suggested that CHRAJ's report to the AG had gone missing.
But responding, the AG's Department said the reports were false and should be disregarded.
It explained that "two (2) CHRAJ reports were received by our office in June, 2018."
It said "The CHRAJ report submitted in June 2018 is on a 2007 contract on Sanitation Improvement Programme and waste management. There is also a CID docket currently under review by the office which covers sanitation related contracts between 2012 and 2017. These are two separate matters and both the docket from CID and the CHRAJ report are receiving the necessary attention by our office."
The A-G stated that it is still looking forward to receiving more documents from the journalist as those he presented were not enough ground for prosecution.
Background
After 8 years, CHRAJ completed investigations into allegations of corruption in the implementation of Zoomlion's contract with metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.
In 2009, a whistle blower from the Tanor South District of the Bono Ahafo Region petitioned CHRAJ alleging that Zoomlion was colluding with the assembly officials to defraud the state.
The Sanitation Improvement Package is one of Zoomlion's contracts with all 216 assemblies in Ghana to lift the containers to the final disposal sites.
In almost all the 53 assemblies Manasseh Azure of Joy News visited as part of this investigation, the assemblies said Zoomlion does not lift the containers in time, resulting in spillage of refuse.
But payments have been already made to Zoomlion for more than 10 years using monies deducted from the MMDAs.
As pressure from residents grows, the Assemblies are often forced to moblise funds to lift the containers.
In order to prevent further spillage of refuse from overflowing containers, some districts like the Ahanta West, have acquired more containers and provide fuel for Zoomlion to lift the additional containers.
But the problem still persisted. The whistle blower believes Zoomlion is taking money for no work done.
"Zoomlion, the administrator of the Common Fund and 138 district assemblies were colluding [and] conniving to defraud the state and so we should investigate and make sure that the monies wrongfully paid are paid back," CHRAJ boss Joseph Whittal said.
When CHRAJ started the investigation, Zoomlion went to court to stop the Commission claiming CHRAJ did not have jurisdiction to investigate it because it is a private company.
In November 2013, the court threw out Zoomlion's case and gave CHRAJ the mandate to go ahead with its investigations.
According to the CHRAJ boss Joseph Whittal, the Commission will soon present its findings to the office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice for further action.
At least, 15 other companies of the Jospong Group are currently undergoing investigations by the Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) as well as Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) over allegations of corruption following Joy News investigations.
A-G's response after investigations
The Attorney General indicated that the evidence provided to the department in respect of corruption against Zoomlion cannot sustain a prosecution.
"He promised to provide more documents but has since been unable to do so. He subsequently directed us to the director, legal of the Auditor-General’s Office for the documents we require. The department remains in touch with the director and is yet to receive the full complement of the promised documents," a statement from the AG said.
It added "the department continues to work diligently to ensure that the tenets of justice are upheld in all matters brought before it. The department further urges journalists to desist from hurried attempts to misreport matters in a manner that causes public apprehension."