{"id":100167,"date":"2025-10-25T05:43:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T05:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=100167"},"modified":"2025-10-25T05:43:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T05:43:24","slug":"corruption-standoff-deepens-as-ag-rejects-j-a-plant-pools-clerical-error-defence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=100167","title":{"rendered":"Corruption standoff deepens as AG rejects J.A. Plant Pool\u2019s \u2018clerical error\u2019 defence"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='booster-block booster-read-block'>\n                <div class=\"twp-read-time\">\n                \t<i class=\"booster-icon twp-clock\"><\/i> <span>Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 10 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div><div>\n<p>The legal storm surrounding the alleged US$2 million overpayment and financial irregularities in the District Roads Improvement Programme (DRIP) contract has intensified, with the Attorney-General (A-G) and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, announcing he is prepared to use the courts to enforce accountability.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Ayine\u2019s defiance comes in direct response to a comprehensive rebuttal issued by the contracting firm, J.A. Plant Pool (JAPP) Limited, which dismissed the AG\u2019s claims of overpayment, tax evasion, and over-invoicing as \u201cunfortunate\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>JAPP had earlier issued a detailed statement in an attempt to clear its name, particularly addressing the contentious issue of the alleged overpayment. <\/p>\n<p>The company attributed the entire reported US$2 million excess payment to a simple clerical error in official documentation.<\/p>\n<p>JAPP asserted that the executed contract sum was significantly higher than the figure cited in the AG\u2019s allegations, claiming the correct value was US$178,704,739.50, not the lower US$176 million figure mentioned by Dr. Ayine.<\/p>\n<p>The firm argued that the AG was presenting a \u201cpartial narrative\u201d that could cause irreparable damage to its reputation.<\/p>\n<p>The company further rejected all other claims:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Tax Evasion:<\/strong> JAPP stated that all imports related to the DRIP contract were properly declared to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and processed through government-approved bonded warehouses, thus dismissing any assertion of tax evasion.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Over-Invoicing:<\/strong> The firm maintained that the contract prices were the result of a competitively negotiated process and represented genuine value for money for the state.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Despite JAPP\u2019s public defence, Dr. Ayine remains resolute. <\/p>\n<p>Speaking in an interview on Friday, October 24, the Attorney General reaffirmed his initial position, stating his office possesses conclusive evidence of the financial breaches.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWe have investigated and we have the evidence. If they [JA Plant Pool] are making that claim, we\u2019ll come out with the truth,\u201d Dr. Ayine declared.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Minister for Justice emphasised that he is ready to take the battle to the Judicial Service to retrieve any funds deemed to have been improperly paid or embezzled, signalling a major legal confrontation.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWhat I said, I stand by, and if they want to challenge it, they can do so. If they are not conforming to the demand that I have made, I have the courts to help me to do so,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The standoff places both the A-G\u2019s investigative findings and JAPP\u2019s financial records under intense public scrutiny, with the looming threat of a high-profile civil suit set to determine the ultimate truth behind the multi-million-dollar road improvement contract.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n        <div class=\"booster-block booster-reactions-block\">\n            <div class=\"twp-reactions-icons\">\n                \n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-1\" post-id=\"100167\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/happy.svg\" alt=\"Happy\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n           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class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Corruption standoff deepens as AG rejects J.A. Plant Pool's 'clerical error' defence\" title=\"Corruption standoff deepens as AG rejects J.A. Plant Pool's 'clerical error' defence\">The legal storm surrounding the alleged US$2 million overpayment and financial irregularities in the District Roads Improvement Programme (DRIP) contract has intensified, with the Attorney-General (A-G) and Minister for Justice, Dr.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2950,1969,11172,117,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ag","category-hp-news-3","category-ja-plant-pool","category-news","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=100167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100167\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=100167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=100167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=100167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}