PHILIP ASSIBIT AKPEENA v. THE REPUBLIC

ADJEI, J.A:

The Appellant herein and one Abuga Pele were tried and convicted by the Financial Division of the High Court Accra and were sentenced to a number of years. The appeal before us is against both conviction and sentence imposed on the Appellant herein. The prosecution preferred eleven counts of offence against the Appellant herein Philip Akpeena Assibit and was convicted of all of them. The Appellant has appealed against his conviction and sentence on all the eleven counts. Counts one, two, three, four, five and seven were on defrauding by false pretences contrary to section 131(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). Another five counts of offences; namely counts ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen and fourteen were on Dishonestly Causing Loss to Public Property contrary to section 2(1) of the Public Property Protection Act 1977, (SMCD 140). Count fifteen was on Wilfully Causing Financial Loss to the State contrary to section 179 (3) (a) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). The other counts were preferred against Abuga Pele and will not be discussed in this appeal.

The facts of the case as presented by the prosecution were that in 2006, the Government of Ghana set up Ghana Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) now known as Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA). It was first established under the Ministry of Manpower Youth and Social Welfare in 2009 and subsequently under the Ministry of Youth and Sports to provide job opportunities to unemployed youth. For the NYEP to achieve its objectives, it designed various modules involving State institutions and private companies where the youth were engaged to work. The second accused person Abuga Pele was appointed the National Coordinator of NYEP in 2009. In 2010, the first and second accused persons came into contact and the former introduced himself to the latter as a person who could help NYEP to meet some of its objectives. Soon after the two accused persons had come into contact, the NYEP represented by the second accused person and Goodwill International Group (GIG) represented by the first accused entered into a Memorandum of Understanding. According to the prosecution, the competent person to have signed the Memorandum of Understanding for NYEP were the sector Minister or the Attorney - General but the second accused signed without reference to them. The parties entered into the Memorandum of Understanding without business proposals or documents forming th