Former National Coordinator of the National Youth Employment Program (NYEP), which later became the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Development Agency (GYEEDA), Abuga Pele, has received a six year jail sentence on corruption related charges.
Pele and an accomplice, Philip Akpeena Assibit, were both found guilty of the 19 counts they were charged with, which included financial misappropriation, intentionally misapplying public property and causing financial loss to the state.
Pele and Assibit, after the trial judge pronounced them guilty, were sentenced to six and twelve year jail sentences respectively.
The trial of the duo has been running since 2014 and it goes back to Pele’s time as head of the Youth Employment Agency.
Assibit, then CEO of Goodwill International Ghana (GIG), brought a false claim of Ghc 3.3m to the agency, billed as costs of having carried out projects including developing an exit program and securing a grant from the World Bank.
Pele, as head of the agency, okayed the payments even though no work had been done.
They were later arrested after the scam was discovered and now get to serve time in jail for their crimes.
Pele is a well known member of the opposition NDC and a former Member of Parliament for Chiana-Paga in the Upper East Region.