VRA battle ready

KOJO's DIARY
THE Volta River Authority (VRA) has filed a counter statement at the Accra Fast Track Court to engage in a legal battle with its former Chief Executive, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, over his ¢2 billion claim in outstanding entitlements.
The trial judge, Mr P. Baffoe-Bonnie, a Court of Appeal judge with additional responsibility as a High Court judge, announced yesterday at the first hearing of the case that the VRA filed its counter statement on Wednesday afternoon and, therefore, he was adjourning the matter.
However, counsel for the plaintiff, Mr Akoto Ampaw, asked for costs, since, according to him, the suit was filed in December last year for the case to be called later that month.
He argued that the defendant had enough time at its disposal to have filed its defence but it did not do so.
Counsel for the VRA, Mr Kwame Yeboah, said a strict look at the time indicated that the defence was not out of time in the sense that there was a vacation during the period.
The judge intervened and stated that the defence had ample time within which it ought to have filed the statement.
In the end, the application for costs was waived and the case was adjourned to February 6, 2007.
Although the document was not made available to the Daily Graphic, indications were that the authority was not ready to meet the plaintiff’s demand, since he resigned his position without sufficient notice to the authority.
Mr Yeboah, who said he needed the consent of his client before giving out the document, however, stated that the plaintiff did not deserve his claim because he worked for less than two years with the VRA.
If anything at all, he said, it was the plaintiff who ought to have paid the authority some money in lieu of the inadequate notice before his resignation.
Asked why the VRA committed itself and entered into an arrangement with the plaintiff over the payment of his claims, counsel explained that that was subject to review by VRA auditors.
Dr Wereko-Brobby, an energy expert, was, until his separation from the VRA on September 17, 2003, the chief executive of the defendant company whose principal functions include the generation of electrical power in the country.
He is also claiming interest on the entitlement from April 2004 to the date of final payment at the prevailing bank rate, as well as the transfer of ownership of an official car assigned to him, a Volvo saloon, with registration number GW 2505 T.
The plaintiff said it took the VRA considerable time, after his separation from the authority and only consequent upon several demands from him, to eventually write to him formally about his separation entitlements.
He said the VRA letter, dated April 1, 2004, notified him that he was entitled to the cash equivalent of 43 days’ earned leave up to the time of resignation in the sum of ¢61,193,560.60, six months’ salary in lieu of notice in the sum of ¢187,949,999.98, as well as ¢1,878,500,000 in gratuity for five years.
The rest include the cedi equivalent of fuel allocation from January to March 31, 2004 in the sum of ¢2,665,065.56 and a transfer to him of the ownership of his officially assigned vehicle, although he has the vehicle in his possession.