Kwaku Agyeman Manu
Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, has been sued at a Sunyani High Court by his former driver, Stephen Amponsah, for failing to pay him eight years of salary arrears.
The plaintiff prayed the court to order the minister to pay him an accrued monthly salary of GH¢73,800 from January 2009 to December 2016 when he ceased to be his private chauffeur. He claimed the amount was an agreed salary of GH¢ 800 per month.
The suit, which was filed on 18th April, 2018, has already been heard two times and is now adjourned to October 18, 2018.
The plaintiff, through his lawyer from ‘Enso Nyame Ye Chambers’, told the court presided over by John Bosco Neberese that he used to drive the minister when he was the deputy minister of roads and transport in 2001 under the erstwhile Kufuor administration.
According to him, after the NPP left power in 2008, he was relieved of his post by the ministry as a driver but was engaged by the minister as a private chauffeur under oral agreement. The minister agreed to pay him a monthly salary of GH¢800.
He said he served the minister between January 2009 and December 2016 after which he decided to go into farming with the consent of the minister.
He said during the period, the minister did not pay him, but he always promised to pay him later, though he sometimes gave him some ‘pocket money’.
According to him, two years before the 2016 elections, he discussed with the minister that he wanted to go into oil palm plantation and palm oil production. The minister agreed and released his farmland (minister’s) to him for the project.
Again, he said with the consent of the minister, he went in for a loan of GH¢50,000 from a money lender to start the project and pay later with 100% interest.
He disclosed that whilst embarking on the project, he served the minister as a chauffeur during the campaign period.
He indicated that when the NPP won the election and came into government, the minister still wanted him to continue with the work but he turned down the offer. His decision infuriated the minister; hence he sacked him from the farm and collected the land and project from him.
Not satisfied with his action, he approached him to pay his salary arrears of GH¢ 76,800 over a period of 96 months but the minister refused.
In his defense, the minister denied any contract between them. At the second sitting, the judge adjourned the case to 18th October, 2018, for further hearing.
FROM Daniel Y Dayee, Sunyani
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