Humado cross-examined on GYEEDA rot

Former Youth and Sports Minister Kofi Humado has been subjected to a rigorous cross examination by Mr Raymond Bagnabu lawyer for Philip Assibit.

Among other issues, Mr Bagnabu challenged claims by Humado that he did not know about the payment of over $500,000 to Assibit being consultancy fee for the procurement of a World Bank loan.

Joy News' Anny Osabutey who was in court said the lawyer brought a letter purporting to have been signed by Humado ordering the payment of $525,000 to Assibit- a letter he gave as exhibit to the court.

Assibit, CEO of Goodwill International was a consultant to the then National Youth Employment Programme now Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Agency (GYEEDA) is, together with the then national coordinator of GYEEDA Abuga Pele standing trial for fraud and willfully causing financial loss to the state.

The two allegedly conspired to defraud the state of monies said to be in the region of GH¢4.1 million.

Kofi Humado who was then the Youth and Sports Minister and who had oversight responsibility over GYEEDA, had testified as a prosecution witness.

He told the court in his testimony he felt suspicious when Mr Assibit brought an invoice seeking to be paid an amount of $823,000 for tracer studies for the World Bank loan.

He said that the suspicion was later confirmed when he went before the Economic and Organised Crime Office only to be told that the tracer studies had been plagiarised.

But Bagnabu challenged that claim by the witness.
He told the court the tracer studies were conducted and was never plagiarised.

Hearing has been adjourned to Friday.