Bad settlement can be a crime – Senyo Hosi on Baffour Awuah case
by Miss Naa · MyNewsGh.comPolitical commentator and policy analyst Senyo Hosi says the decisions surrounding the SIC settlement at the centre of the Baffour Awuah case could amount to criminal negligence if investigators establish that public officials failed in their duty to protect state assets.
Speaking on TV3’s Keypoints, Hosi disagreed with suggestions that a bad settlement could not constitute a crime, arguing that the circumstances of the transaction must be examined.
“I don’t agree that bad settlement cannot be a crime. There’s something called criminal negligence,” he said.
Hosi explained that public officials responsible for managing state interests have a duty to protect the value of public investments.
He questioned why SIC would accept a settlement when an asset reportedly worth about $25 million was available against a judgment of approximately $14 million.
“If you’ve got a judgment of $14 million, your job is to make sure you can get that $14 million. If you can’t get it, you can negotiate and find a pathway. That’s understandable,” he said.
“But when you actually have the $14 million in a fiscal asset, you have an asset in excess of $25 million or of about $25 million. You have a liability that is worth about $14 million.”
He said the central issue was why the state did not recover the amount owed when it reportedly had security over an asset that could cover the judgment.
“Why you didn’t go and get the $14 million for the state, but you rather allowed, while you had hold on an asset, you sat back and allowed a different person to come and take the asset as if it practically was stolen from you,” he said.
Hosi, however, stressed that the facts must be established before wrongdoing could be determined.
“We just have to vet to see if there was some wilful negligence on the part of these actors or whatever it may be. Did somebody really know what they were doing?” he added.
His comments came during a discussion of the case involving Manhyia South MP Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah and the settlement involving SIC Life and Equity Savings and Loans.
Source: MyNewsGh.com
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