The Chief Executive Officer of the defunct Ghana@50 Secretariat, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby has described as laughable charges of causing financial loss being preferred against him by the state. Dr Wereko-Brobby and the former Chief of Staff at the Presidency, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, have been hauled before court facing four counts of causing financial loss to the state. The two presided over the celebration of Ghana’s 50 anniversary in 2007. The two men were grilled by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service on Wednesday. During their first court appearance on Thursday, both Dr Wereko-Brobby and Mr Mpiani pleaded not guilty. In a later interview on Top Story on Joy FM, the former Ghana@50 CEO said: “I am not a lawyer but I do not understand what loss that we were supposed to have caused.” According to him although, in presenting the facts, the prosecution talked exclusively about the National Planning Committee (NPC) and the Secretariat as those who had committed the “acts,” it cited he and his colleague as those being charged. “That I find to be very strange; that the messengers are those being charged for the sins of the corporate body. I do not know too much law but I do not know if that can stand up master for master,” Dr Wereko-Brobby said. The prosecution held that the two ex-officials between May 2006 and December 2008 caused financial loss to the tune of GH¢46 million for exceeding the amount Parliament approved for them. The second charge is causing financial loss to the tune of GH¢21 million between February 2007 and June 2009 in connection with a loan the secretariat secured from the Prudential Bank without authorization. There were another charge of causing financial loss of GH¢9 million and a charge of spending all the GH¢19 million-internally-generated funds on the Ghana@50 celebrations. Mr Wereko-Brobby said the charges are contestable, saying, the secretariat made a surplus of GH¢36 million taking into consideration all liabilities that were due, but that has not been mentioned in the deliberations. “If you look at the full financial statement of Ghana@50, it makes provision of GH¢12 million to pay off the liabilities. At the time the new government took over, there was cash available of over GH¢9 million, the pay vouchers had been prepared, they could have been paid and government chose not to prosecute them plus other people who were owed money in other government business,” Dr Wereko-Brobby added. Meanwhile, the former deputy Attorney General during New Patriotic Party (NPP) era, Kwame Osei Prempeh, says there is no basis for the prosecution of the two former officials. According to him, it is premature for government to push for the prosecution of the two ex-officials, but a legal expert Chris Ackumey, says that assertion is baseless. Former President John Kufuor was in court on Thursday in solidarity with his friends who were his subordinates when he was in power. Story by Fiifi Koomson/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana