Name Of Company Where BGL Mafia Diverts State Contracts Pops Up – Ghanaiandemocrat

Ongoing investigation into the corrupt activities of a mafia within the Bureau of Ghana Languages (BGL) has thrown up the name of one of the private companies where book translation contracts are diverted to.

‘Favoured One Publications’ runs on a Post Office address connected to Oyibi, a suburb of Accra. It has allegedly received several Twi translation contracts that had been diverted from the BGL.

The company is interestingly; owned by Madam Adwoa Apraku, Head of the Asante Twi section of the BGL. Adwoa Apraku is the wife of Fredrick Frimpong Baafi, Assistant Head of the Asante Twi section of the BGL and the officer in charge of client services at the Bureau.

Apparently, husband and wife act together to divert translation contracts from the BGL to their own company, using their positions at the Bureau. Fredrick Frimpong Baafi as head of client services meets with prospective clients of the BGL who want translations done for them and then diverts the jobs to Favoured One Publications, which is owned by his wife, Adwoa Apraku.

This paper has seen two books that Adwoa Apraku has allegedly translated from English to Twi, using her company. The books are a Twi dictionary and a children’s story book.

Through the diversions, the mafia which includes Joseph Avunya, Assistant Head of the Ewe language section and Moses Aplerh, of the Ga language section of the Bureau, has allegedly diverted millions that would have come to the State to themselves.

Allegedly, when jobs come and they are not Twi translations, Fredrick Baafi passes them on to either Avunya or Aplerh, depending on whether the translation is Ewe or Ga related. It is not clear if these two also own private publishing companies of their own that they take the diverted translation contracts to, but sources have mentioned a private publication company called Gilbert, as one that the BGL corrupt mafia likes to divert contracts to.

Meanwhile, Baafi and his wife, Adwoa Apraku, continue to use the Kawokudi office building of the BGL as their private house, living in it like a matrimonial home. Sources from within the BGL say the Bureau’s Acting Director, Peter Essien, has refused to confront the gang robbing the BGL of contracts because he is a toothless bulldog.

Baafi, said to be a notorious member of the gang is allegedly acting in the position of Assistant Head of Asante Twi at the BGL without the requisite qualification. He is said not to have a language background. As head of client service, he also does not have any training in client service management. Fredrick Frimpong Baafi arrogated the position that he is acting in to himself.

 Sources say that Baafi is one of many square pegs in round holes at the BGL because there is no administrative structure in place. The lack of administrative structure is due to the fact that government has abandoned the Bureau and its staff to their own devices.

The messy situation at the Bureau means that whenever Mr. Baafi is away from the Bureau working on a diverted job from the BGL, the Client Service desk of the BGL shuts down and all contracts that come in are directed to his wife, Adwoa Apraku.

The Bureau of Ghana Languages is an agency in charge of local Ghanaian languages, eleven (11) of which are currently under its focus. It also functions uniquely as a government publishing house.

Since December 1989, the Bureau has been a department under the National Commission on Culture and has been involved in the educational and cultural efforts of the state. 

Government has not particularly given it attention to the agency over the years leading to the development of an atmosphere of corruption and impunity.

A first publication that resulted from investigation into the activities of the mafia there is said to have jolted the gang into anger last week. Sources from within the bureau say the mafia had mobilized on Wednesday to storm the offices of the New Crusading Guide newspaper in response to the paper carrying the story in a front page publication.

However, upon second thought, the gang is said to have advised itself that their action might stir the hornet’s nest the more and therefore chose to let discretion be the better part of valor.

Source: GD Investigators