Facts are sacred! Sammy Gyamfi replies ET Mensah on Saglemi suit

The National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has responded to claims by a former Minister of Works and Housing Enoch Teye Mensah that Sammy lied in his response to the charges against Collins for causing financial loss to the state in the Saglemi Housing project.

ET Mensah had said on Tuesday, August 3 that the earlier response by Sammy Gyamfi to the suit against Collins Dauda over the project, were all lies

He said the facts do not support what Sammy Gyamfi said about him.

This comes after the Attorney-General (A-G) and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame earlier this week filed court processes to prosecute former Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Collins Dauda; his successor, Dr. Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah, and three other persons for allegedly causing financial loss to the state wilfully over the now-abandoned Saglemi Affordable Housing Project.

The state is pressing 52 counts of criminal charges against the accused persons who he accuses of misapplying the state’s $200 million to pay for less than 1,500 affordable housing units at Saglemi, instead of the 5,000 units parliament granted approval for.

In response to the suit, Sammy Gyamfi said in a statement among other things that “It is instructive to note, that the Minister of Works and Housing at the time, Hon. E.T Mensah informed Parliament during the debate on the approval of the loan facility, that the 5000 housing units will not be built at a go, but rather over a period of time, that is, in phases. This is captured in black and white in the Parliamentary Hansard of 23rd October 2013.

“Subsequent to the grant of Parliamentary approval, the Ministry of Works and Housing under Hon. E.T Mensah prepared and executed a Works Agreement with the Contractor for the project, Construtora OAS Limited. It is in the Works Agreement that the government decided to build the 5000 housing units in 4 phases. The consultant for the project was AESL. Note that Parliament had already approved the loan agreement, and therefore the Works Agreement which was an issue of implementation by the Ministry was not required to be approved by Parliament.”

But Mr. ET Mensah said on the Good Evening Ghana show on Tuesday, August 3 that “Everything is not true, it is packed with lies. You [host of the program] should have alerted me I would have come with the handover notes.

“The project started when the TSX became a fiasco. It was Mill's project, he was the one who signed and gave the approval.”

Responding to ET Mensah in a Facebook post, Sammy Gyamfi said “The issues about the “Saglemi” Housing Project which are being disputed by Hon. E.T Mensah is a well-documented matter of public record.

“Facts are sacrosanct, and same shall be laid bare to settle all the issues in contention.”