Ghana Water Boss Fumbles

 • At Judgement Debt Hearing 

By Esther Awuah

Kweku Godwin Dovlo, Acting MD Ghana Water Company Limited

THE ACTING Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Kweku Godwin Dovlo, yesterday could not produce evidence to the Judgement Debt Commission to justify compensations paid to land owners of Barekese after acquiring their property.

When he appeared before the commission, Mr Dovlo tendered a letter to support his claim that his company had compensated the land owners.

It turned out that the letter was a copy of a correspondence, which the solicitor of the land owners had sent to GWCL to show that payments had been made.

Sole Commissioner, Justice Yaw Apau, after reading out the content of the letter pointed out to the GWCL Managing Director that it was not a proof of receipt of any money paid.

“This is a letter not a receipt. You have not given us any documents which show that the money was paid and was received in three different installments. So what you told us is different from the documentation you have presented to us,” Justice Apau, emphasised.

The Managing Director of GWCL was not able to furnish the commission with the receipts showing that monies had been paid to the solicitor of the claimants.

He, however, pleaded with the Commission to give him some time to look for the receipts, since he only took office about two months ago.

Background

GWCL over four decades ago secured a land at Barekese in the Ashanti Region, for the construction of a dam, to provide potable drinking water for residents in and around Kumasi.

An agreement was reached with the 12 stool lands and 16 communities whose lands were taken, to the effect that various compensations to cover for the land and in some cases crops and structures on the land.

Payments By BoG

Led in evidence by Dometi Kofi Sorkpor, counsel for the Judgement Debt Commission, Leslie Akrong, Assistant Director and Head of Domestic Banking at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), stated that an amount of GH¢4,301,562.89 was agreed as total compensation to be paid to the land owners.

He acknowledged that these payments were made in three installments which were supposed to have been paid through GWCL to the Land Valuation Board (LVB) which subsequently pays the land owners.

He noted that 50 per cent of the said amount, which was GH¢2, 150,781.43 was paid to GWCL on February 15, 2008 as first installment.

However, the subsequent GH¢1,150,781.46 and the final GH¢1,000,000.00 paid on January 6, 2009 and March 24, 2009 respectively were not paid through the LVB as expected, but was paid straight to the solicitor of the claimants by GWCL.

Kwesi Bentsi-Enchill the Chief Valuer from the LVB, who also appeared before the commission, confirmed that his outfit only received confirmation for the first payment which was 50 per cent of the full amount, but was not informed about the last two. 

Sitting has been adjourned till Monday, June 24, 2012.