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22.12.2011 General News

STX Thrown Out

By Daily Guide
STX Ghana offices at the Airport Residential Area with the 39;House To Let39; signSTX Ghana offices at the Airport Residential Area with the 'House To Let' sign
22.12.2011 LISTEN

IT IS yet to be established whether STX Engineering & Construction Ghana Limited has relocated its offices from the Airport residential area in Accra or not but DAILY GUIDE can confidently say that the troubled company has been thrown out of the building housing it even as the company suffered another setback in court yesterday.

The attempt by beleaguered Chief Executive Officer of the company, Bernard Kwabena Asamoah, to sack the Korean counterparts from the construction of 200,000 housing units in the country failed.

This is because the Commercial Court C in Accra handling the case dismissed Mr. Asamoah's action asking the court to kick out the Koreans to pave way for the construction of the housing units in the country, starting with 30,000 houses for the security services at the cost of $10 billion.

Ever since President John Evans Atta Mills cut the sod on Thursday January 27, 2011, for the commencement of the project, boardroom wrangling between the Ghanaian and their Korean partners has ensured that not a single block has been laid.

The court, presided over by Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, dismissed B.K. Asamoah's application on 'procedural grounds' and awarded GH¢ 3,000 as cost against the applicant.

The judge had held that Mr Asamoah could only sue under the Company Code (Act 179) Section 217 if the partner had been involved in illegal conduct but the plaintiff had failed to prove the Koreans did so.

Mr Asamoah had indicated he was ready to buy out his Korean counterparts and the court allowed the parties time to settle the terms and report to it.

However, both parties came back to court announcing that the settlement had broken down.

The judge then asked the plaintiff to move the motion, after which the defendants responded.

The judge delivered her ruling, describing the application as 'incompetent'.

On Tuesday, close to lunchtime, when DAILY GUIDE passed by the offices of the company, about four men were busily seen pasting a bold inscription which read 'House For Rent' in red ink on its gates.

In the process, the security personnel manning the two gates of the company looked on without any attempt to intercept the unfolding action.

Efforts to reach Mr Asamoah via phone did not succeed.

Additionally, he is said to have issued dud cheques to Rana Motors for payment of vehicles purchased for the company's use.

The foregoing developments appear to be giving a clue as to what the financial situation of the company currently is.

The five-member board of STX in November pasted an unsigned notice which claimed that the Ghanaian head of STX Ghana, B.K. Asamoah, had been relieved of his duties.

But Mr. Asamoah sharply rebutted media reports and argued that he was still at post.

This took place a few weeks after the Korean partners dragged B.K. Asamoah to court and accused him of falsifying certain corporate documents and also unlawfully reconstituting the board.

In the suit of the Koreans, they noted that on May 16, 2011, Mr. Asamoah, who is also owner of G.K. Airports Company Limited, and J. B. Asafo-Boakye, filed a special resolution claiming to surrender all the stated shares of STX Construction Company Limited to G.K. Airports Company Limited.

However, the plaintiffs argued that such an action could not stand in law because the Koreans were still part of the company. 

The GK Airports suit was against STX Engineering and Construction Ghana Limited and STX Construction Company Limited in Seoul, which was thrown out yesterday.

By Samuel Boadi &William Yaw Owusu
 

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