The Financial and Economic Court Division of the Accra High Court presided over by Justice Afia Asare-Botwe has convicted Abuga Pele, a former National Coordinator of the defunct Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency, GYEEDA.
 Abuga Pele, together with Philip Akpeena Assibit, a representative of the Goodwill International Group (GIG) were cited for certain infractions in relation to the GHS 4.1 million GYEEDA scandal.
The court indicated that the purported memorandum of understanding signed between the GYEEDA and GIG is incapable of being a contract of consultancy services as espoused by the accused persons.
According to the court, no consultancy services existed per the shreds of evidence brought before the court.
The court again added that the documents presented as evidence of work done by Mr Assibit has lapsed and difficult to believe. On whether his actions amounted to defrauding, the court averred that prosecution have proven so and accordingly convicted Mr Pele of causing financial loss to the state.
The court has jailed Abuga Pele ten years, whereas Assibit will serve sixteen years.
GYEEDA scandal
In the case scandal that hit the now Youth Employment Agency (YEA), some companies including Zoomlion Ghana Limited, RLG, Asongtaba Cottage Industry Limited and Better Ghana Management Services Limited among others, were contracted to render services under various modules for the GYEEDA programme.
Following reports of the syphoning of state funds under GYEEDA, the government in 2012 ordered an investigation into its activities and subsequently terminated the contracts with the various companies.
The former GYEEDA National Coordinator, Abuga Pele was also hauled before a court to answer for the reported malfeasance under his tenure.
Abuga Pele has since pleaded not guilty to two counts of abetment of crime, intentionally misapplying public property, and five counts of willfully causing financial loss to the state in the ongoing trial.
 Abuga Pele, the MP for Chiana Paga in the Upper East Region at the time, said there was a conspiracy to use him as a ‘sacrificial lamb’ for the multi-million cedi corruption scandal, whiles those supposed to have been charged are walking free.
Gov’t blacklists RLG, others
In December 2015, Government supposedly blacklisted companies indicted in the corruption scandal that hit GYEEDA, which included big names like Zoomlion and RLG.
The announcement was made by the then Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Haruna Iddrisu. However, the companies said there was no such blacklisting by government.
For many observers, the slow pace of the trial was an indication that the government was not genuinely interested in prosecuting the case, and that they were doing so to protect their people.
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