Former Information Minister, Stephen Asamoah Boateng and his wife Zuleika, have been acquitted and discharged of charges of wilfully causing financial loss to the state.

Mr Asamoah-Boateng was charged, alongside six other persons including his wife Zuleika and former Deputy Information Minister Frank Agyekum with various offences committed against the state.

The nine charges included causing financial loss brought by the state.

The charges related to a contract awarded Mr Asamaoh-Boateng’s sister-in-law for some renovation works at the Information Ministry.

The case dragged for years but according to a report by Graphic.com Thursday, Mr. Asamoah Boateng and his wife have been acquitted and discharged.

Former Deputy Information Minister Mr Frank Agyekum has however been asked to open his defence in the charge of wilfully causing financial loss to the state. 

The charges included contravention of the public procurement act and conspiracy.

The charges were related to a contract awarded to Mr Asamaoh-Boateng’s sister-in-law for some renovation works at the Information Ministry during his tenure of office as Sector Minister. 

They were charged together with six other people, including former Deputy Information Minister in the same regime, Mr Frank Agyekum.

According to Graphic's Court Correspondent, Mabel Aku Banaseh, Mr Agyekum has however been asked by the court to open his defence with five other people.

The case has been pending since 2009.

The accused are alleged to have conspired to defraud the state of GH¢86,915.85 as a result of renovation works carried out at the Ministerial Block of the ministry during Mr Asamoah Boateng’s tenure as minister. 

The other accused persons are Frank Agyekum; a former Deputy Minister of Information, Dominic Aloysius Yaw Sampong; a former acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Information, Kwabena Denkyira; a former Director of Finance and Administration at the ministry, and Prosper Arku of SPAL. 

Mr Asamoah-Boateng, Zulieka, Kofi, Agyekum, Sampong and Domua were jointly charged with contravening the provisions of the Public Procurement Act.

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