The Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana (UG), Prof Ernest Aryeetey, has dismissed claims that he connived with two others to register the UG Medical Centre Limited, the company that was set up to manage the university’s hospital, in their names.
Contrary to allegations that he, Prof Aaron Nii Lante Lawson and Rojo Mettle Nunoo, a former Deputy Minister of Health, appropriated the company and the hospital to themselves, Prof Aryeetey told the Daily Graphic today (Jan 23) that the three of them only acted as founding directors of the company in requirement of rules governing the registration of limited liabilities in the country.
Their action, he said was also sanctioned by UG Governing Council at the time, which authorised them to register the UG Medical Centre as a special purpose vehicle to manage the 650-bed hospital.
As a result, he said the company was solely registered in the name of the University of Ghana and not in the names of individuals as had been alleged by current leadership of the Health Ministry.
“When you are registering a company, by law, you have to provide names of at least, three people, to serve as directors. The names that were approved by the UG Council was myself, Prof Lawson as the project manager and later the interim CEO, and Mr Nunoo, who was nominated by the Ministry of Health (MoH), as directors of the company and not owners of the company.”
“The appointment was for the registration, and after the registration, the UG Council established the board of directors for the company. I was appointed to chair the board until I resigned on November 24, 2017,” he said.
The University Council after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government to manage the hospital decided to establish a private company to be owned by the university to serve the purpose rather than placing it under a department of the university.
In accordance with this directive, the then UG lawyer, Ms Akyaa Afreh Arhin commenced and completed the process of registering the new company under the companies Act 1963(ACT 179) as a limited liability company solely owned by the University of Ghana.
Allegation
A Deputy Minister of Health, Kingsley Aboagye-Gyedu, accused the former university professor of registering the medical facility in his name together with Prof. Aaron Nii Lante Lawson and Rojo Mettle Nunoo.
“It will shock Ghanaians to hear that a limited liability company such as the facility has been registered in the names of Rojo Mettle Nunoo, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey and one Prof. Aaron Nii Lante Lawson in their respective names”, Mr Aboagye-Gyedu told the media.
UG medical centre
The newly built UG hospital, christened the UG Medical Centre was completed and inaugurated by the Mahama-led government in November 2016 at a cost of about US$217 million, consisting of 350 beds, ultra-modern medical gadgets for treating complicated medical conditions, and a helipad to airlift emergency cases, as well as a medical hotel.
The project began in 2012 when the government signed a contract with Messrs. Engineering and Development Consultant (EDC) of Israel to build the first phase of the facility and hand it over to the university.
Source: Graphic.com
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Simple registration of company now a problem, wow. NPP I feel sad for you guys. Once again prof on not a board member and the university council can easily remove the names if they want to. What is all this NPP. Take them to court and stop wasting our time.
And your wife’s company was built by both of your family members, employees would be paid by both of your family members, equipped and would be equipped in the next 5years by both of your family members, but the revues accrued from it would go to you and your wife. Please you people should wise up . The NDC is purely incompetent party full of tribalistic. Get out of it.
These guys writing to exonerate prof. aryeetey and his gang are plain hiding the truth or do not understand what they are talking about. Someone should clarify this for me: are prof. aryeetey, mettle nunoo and others members of the board of directors or directors of the hospital; these are two different things. If they registered their names as directors of the company at the registrar general’s department then they are to be deemed as shareholders of the company, which is criminal and not proper; and the old prof. is being very untruthful. On the other hand if they are members of the board of directors then they are not necessarily shareholders, but they can be changed at the end of their tenure of office. Whatever the case someone is being mischievous
Prof. Ernest Aryeetey you erred big time. WHY? The company should have been registered in your positions and not your names. Why have you now resigned from the company? We need truth and commitment in our work. Very disappointed in your actions and inactions. At least you have seen the sense in resigning now. Behave well as a prof. next time okay.
poor you guys chastising the old poor prof. since when did directorship of a company equals ownership? I can setup a limited liability company and invite a friend to be a director without owning a pin in it. he or she have ownership only when on the share profile a percentage is assigned to him or her. the fact that your director does not make you owner. you only get sitting allowance per your contributions for decision making. directors can be changed at anytime "T" by informing registrar general. oh the woes of Ghana is not the illiterate but those who claim to have completed the universities with plagiarized 1st class certificate but can't interpret it let alone applied it contents for value. the new council of UG can just go to register general to effect new directors. I rest my case. if you can not understand this simply explanation go and resurrect atta mills.
Is it pure ignorance or NPP is jx been mischievous? This govt shd jx waste time on propaganda and we are ready to show them the exit.
Prof is not on the board, wise up Ghana, NPP is playing mischief with this. The deputy minister of health is a disgraceeeeeee. The hospital was registered in the name of university of Ghana with about 7 or more people as directors which include prof. My company was registered in my name with my wife as director. I don't know the huge and cry about this.
SO PROF, NOW THAT YOU ARE NO MORE THE VICE CHANCELLOR, WHY IS YOUR NAME STILL IN THE REGISTRAR GENERAL AS CHAIRMAN? YOU SEE WHAT YOUR PLANS WITH THE STEALING MAFIA OF MAHAMA GOVERNMENT IS LANDING YOU? THEY THOUGHT THEY HAVE WON THE 2016 ELECTIONS HANDS DOWN, THAT IS WHY THEY DID ALL THESE MAFIASO THINGS. THE HOSPITAL IS NOT FOR YOU, NOR FOR DEPUTY MINISTER AND YOU REGISTER IT IN YOUR NAME? COME AGAIN WE DONT GET YOU.
Univ of Ghana is owned by the gov.... and a hospital built for the University is run by a privately registered company?? I smell corruption here... These guys are armed robbers in suits...... Why is this Prof Aryeetey guy involved in controversial deals?
hmm, Ghana! full of vampires who ***barred word*** on our bloods. corruption corruption corruption thieevery, create loo00t and share nkoaaa