OSBON ENTERPRISE DEFLATES MINISTER’S CLAIM …No payments made to company since 2007

From Sebastian R. Freiku, Kumasi..
Madam Juliana Osei Bonsu of Osborn Ventures, a waste Management company in Kumasi has punched holes in the claim by Mr. John Alexander Ackon, the Ashanti Regional Minister acting as the Metro Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) that, the assembly paid GH¢258,897 to her company for sanitation services provided between 2007 and 2012.

She claims that the KMA has not paid any amount to her for services rendered the KMA per a contract her company entered into with the KMA in 2007.

The KMA contracted Osbon Enterprise to do door-to-door collection of solid waste and refuse at Asawase for a period of five years for the KMA, in a bid to fight filth in the metropolis.

Madam Juliana of Osborn Ventures has since 2013 instituted an action for the payment of the amount and other monies in pursuant to an agreement entered into by the two parties.

She is also seeking interest on the sum from January 2007 to date of the final payment at the prevailing bank rate, as well as general damages for unlawful termination of plaintiff's contract with the defendant.

She explained that the subject matter is pending before a law court where the KMA is contesting an action against it for the payment of GHc532,476.40 owed to Osbon Enterprise.

In June, 2015, a Kumasi High Court (Commercial Division) gave judgment to the effect that the KMA should pay an amount of GHc249,188.40 representing five months of  subsidies  from January to May 2008 and a monthly sum of GHc33,051.31 for the period from January to October 2008.

The KMA was also to pay interest on the total sum as prayed in addition to GHc800,000 general damages as well as a cost of GHc50,000.00.

As a result, the defendant/respondent KMA declared its intention to file Notice of Appeal and subsequently filed an application for a stay of execution on the grounds that the judgment was given in the absence of the KMA.

The Court  presided over by His Lordship Justice Kofi Akrowiah on July 12, 2016 in upholding the  application for  stay of execution, ordered that half of the  judgment debt  be paid by the  defendant into Court and  half be paid  to the plaintiff  as defendant judgment debtor pending  the determination of the appeal.

It is against this background that Madam Juliana has vehemently protested against the claim by the Regional Minister that the KMA had paid some amounts of money to Osbon Enterprise.

She said the said Ministerial claim has created the wrong impression that she is dishonest in the eyes of her bankers and debtors following delayed payments by the KMA.

Last week, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly appealed to the government for an urgent financial support and legal assistance to deal with GH¢50.2 million judgment debt and 49 court cases.

The Regional Minister, John Alexander Ackon, said at the formal opening of the second session of the General Assembly in Kumasi that the Assembly has now been saddled with a total judgment debt of GH¢50.5 million and that the situation is distracting the Assembly from effectively carrying out its mandate and damaging its image.

According to Mr. Ackon, court orders have taken a chunk of the Assembly's financial resources from almost all its bank accounts.

He indicated that between 2015 and July 2016, KMA paid GH¢976,120.62 to Sapso Construction Ltd purported which  constructed market stalls in 1994 but the cost of the project was not paid for by the KMA at the time.

The Minister also said GH¢258,897 was paid to Freko FD Enterprise Ltd and Osbon Ltd for sanitation services provided between 2007 and 2012.

Mr. Ackon says currently, the court has granted three companies to seize and sell KMA's movable and immovable properties to settle judgment debts.

But Madam Juliana, as she is commonly known, has said the claim by the minister is untrue and wondered why some payments had been made to other companies but her company was yet to be paid a pesewa in spite of court directives.

She also wondered why the KMA should use her company to solicit as huge as GHc50.5 million for servicing of judgment debts by the KMA.

The CEO of Osbon Enterprise said she suspects some mischief since the KMA has even filed a stay of execution against orders of the court to pay some amounts pending the determination of the case.

Madam Juliana also indicated that if indeed the KMA had paid some amounts to her company, why it (KMA) would move round seeking arbitration per some eminent chiefs and also go to the extent of filing a stay of execution of a court's order in an attempt to delay payment due her.

She has, therefore, appealed to the public to disregard the claim by the KMA that it had paid monies to her company with contempt.