The former Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIS) and Annor & Associates, Dr Samuel Yaw Annor, has admitted in court that he indeed sold Veterans Association of Ghana (VAG) land, located at the Airport Commercial Area to a private developer to recoup his losses.
According to him, the sale of the land was due to a breach of agreement on the part of VAG, which refused to give a vacant position to Annor & Associates by a stipulated period, in a contract reached between both sides.
He added that VAG (1st defendant), which has been sued alongside Annor & Associates Limited (2nd defendant) and two others – Dr. Samuel Yaw Annor (3rd Defendant) by Dream Reality Limited (plaintiff), breached the agreement at a time most of the Directors of the 2nd and 3rd defendants were domiciled in South Africa.
Dr Annor further told the court that the directors had made arrangements for funding and also engaged the services of architects, engineers, and project managers who would have helped to design the shopping complex for which the land was given to them.
He argued that since VAG failed to give them a vacant position of the land, the engineers, architects, and financiers who were engaged gave up, with the view that the project might not materialise.
He, however, confessed under cross-examination by counsel for VAG, Roberts Ekor Dessah, at the Land Division of the Accra High Court, presided over by Jennifer Anne Myers Ahmed, on Wednesday, July 6, 2022 that the sale of the land was equally a break of the contractual agreement.
When asked to mention the names of the directors he had earlier referred to, the defendant cited himself, his wife Barbara Annor and one Nathany Annor who was living partially in Ghana and South Africa.
He told the court that he did not conform to the provisions of the agreement before the sale of the land, due to certain circumstances.
Mr. Dessah, counsel for VAG suggested to him, Dr Annor, that at the time he sold a portion of the land meant for the construction of penthouses, and a shopping mall for the benefit of the ex-servicemen and women to the plaintiff, he (Dr. Annor) continued to attend meetings with VAG in respect of their original contractual agreement.
But Dr. Annor denied the assertion and explained that records of minutes before the court, which are in reference to meetings held between him and VAG from 2010 to 2012, were in relation to VAG taking possession of the land and doing so mounted a big signboard that the land belongs to the military so everyone should keep off.
The defense counsel again told him, the defendant that those meetings produced an addendum that has been captured under a supplementary agreement, and Dr. Annor was one of the major contributors to its contents.
He (counsel) again told him (Annor) that decisions reached in the supplementary agreement made it explicit that there should be a sod-cutting ceremony by the end of July 2010, although the initial agreement dated back to 2006.
Unfortunately, Mr. Dessah continued, soon after that sod-cutting ceremony on July 28, 2010, Annor & Associates represented by Dr. Annor, once again sold the rest of the land to Independent Properties (4th defendant), which he is the majority shareholder and his wife is the director, on August 20, 2010.
But Dr. Annor responded that the land was sold to Independent Properties in response to a consequence of the series of meetings that were held, and in fact, the said company was present at the sod-cutting ceremony, saying “so, it is not as if VAG and the Ministry of Defence didn’t have any idea at all that the 2nd defendant sold the land.”
The defense counsel then asked, “Can you provide evidence of meetings that were held to sell this land or any approval from VAG to sell the land?”
Dr. Annor answered in the negative that “not at this point, but I can show in due time that before the transfer of the land, VAG was aware of the transfer by the Land Commission.”
Dr. Annor clarified to the court that he is not the majority shareholder of the 4th defendant but a shareholder and could not give the full name and address of the secretary of Independent Property, whom he said was lawyer Kwame.
But the defence Counsel suggested to him (defendant Annor)  that if Dr Annor and his wife have something to do with Independent Properties, it cannot be true that the company is an innocent purchaser of value without the knowledge of VAG as an interested party in the land.
Accordimng to VAG counsel, Dr Annor acted unfairly to all parties in the transaction, but the latter denied the claim and stressed that VAG, Annor & Associates, and the 3rd defendant were all aware that they have changed the agreement from a shopping mall by Annor and Associates to the development of a hotel complex by Independent Properties.
Dr. Annor maintained that the provision of the five penthouses for the VAG was going to be built on top of the hotel complex.
Annor & Associates was also accused of breaching the 2nd leg of the agreement by failing to pay an amount of US$134,558.40 into VAG Trust account with the Stanbic Bank, but the defendant again claimed that was not the case, since the 2nd defendant has sought on some occasions to get a statement from Stanbic Bank to know exactly how much it has paid into the Trust, but that effort never materialized. The case was adjourned to July 13Â at 1:00 pm
