The Chief Executive Officer of Labianca Company Limited, Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh, has passed on.
According to reports, she died on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Accra after a brief illness.
Until her demise, Ms. Asomah-Hinneh was the representative of the Western Region on the Council of State.
Prior to that, she served on the Board of Directors of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) from 2017 to 2021.
Calls for her resignation as Council of State member intensified on August 9, 2022, following a report by the Office of the Special Prosecutor implicating her in corruption-related offences.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor received a written complaint from Frank Asare in November 2021, prompting a probe into Labianca’s activities.
“The complainant alleged ongoing corrupt, illegal, and questionable dealings between Labianca and the Customs Division resulting in unlawful markdown or reduction of benchmark values of frozen food products imported by Labianca under the guise of customs advance rulings.”
“The complainant contended that Labianca has gained undue competitive market advantage in the frozen foods industry by reason of the allegedly corrupt and other unlawful dealings,” the report stated.
After the investigations, the OSP concluded that Ms Asomah-Hinneh had capitalized on her position as a member of the Council of State and member of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) to get a favourable decision from the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and so accused her of influence-peddling.
The OSP also accused Colonel Kwadwo Damoah, a former Commissioner of the Customs Division at the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and Joseph Adu Kyei, a former Deputy Commissioner of the Division, of wrongdoing in the case.
However, the High Court, Accra, quashed the OSP’s report.
The court also ordered the OSP to pay GHC 10,000 in costs, marking a significant turn in the case.