Sierra Leone: As commercial roll-out overdue, Ambitel -LAP Green Net in breach of contract
The 85% shareholder in the African Investment Portfolio telecommunications wing, LAP Green Net, which is registered in the country as Ambitel-Green Net Sierra Leone Limited, has been accused of breach of shares agreement between its partner, founder and Director of Ambitel Sierra Leone, Mr. Michael Kenneth Ondaan, for failure to fulfil its part of the deal.
As per the said shares agreement, it was stated that Mr. Michael Kenneth Ondaan be recruited as a chairman of board of directors and a consultant with a monthly salary of $6, 000, 00, totalling to $216,000 including interest, from 2009 to date.
Speaking in a interview with Salone Reporter, Mr. Ondaan disclosed that he could still not clearly figure out the exact whereabouts of his $2,100, which according to him, did not reflect in his account in Dubai, where Lap Green claimed to have deposited the said money.
Out of the sum of $3,432,300 as stipulated in the shares agreement, Ambitel-Lap Green SL partner, chairman of board of directors and consultant, Mr. Michael Kenneth Ondaan, said he only received $450,000 from the instead of the actual aforementioned amount.
Thereafter, Ondaan explained that on the directives of Abdul Basset Elzzabi he went to Liberia in search of a network market for Ambitel Lap-Green SL LTD. and having secured the license for Libracel, the company was supposed to have starts operations in Liberia but could not refund his expenses nor launch the network.
Though he pay salaries, install base stations and do other financial transactions through the Freetown branch of ECOBANK, yet could not pay expenses claimed by Mr. Ondaan for both Liberia installation and for his consultancy and directorship services, from 2009 to date.
“In 2011, I requested Abdul Basset Elazzabi to pay me my salary and all other allowances from 2009 to the time of speaking to this writer, but he told me that he did not have money to pay me, as Mr. Bashir, his boss was sick and at that time, and was taking treatment in London”, said Mr. Ondaan.
The aggrieved Ambitel founder further revealed that in the wake of the war in Libya, Lap-Green’s proposals on the then situation of the company was understandably accepted, but at the end of the crisis Elmabruk told Mr. Michael Kenneth Ondaan that the NTC has given an approval for the company in Sierra Leone to be sold.
Elmabruk is said to have told shareholders that the Libyans want to clear all debts and liabilities by the end of March 2012, and put the company up for sale, which remains to be materialized.
However as a shareholder, Mr. Ondaan said he has tried twice in engaging the chairman of Lap-Green on the way forward of the company, through e-mails but did not receive any reply from him.
Also, questioned on further outstanding financial matters between the two parties, Ambitel-Lap-Green Wafik Shater had earlier told Mr. Ondaan in an e-mail that his (Mr. Michael Kenneth Ondaan’s) contract was not valid even though it was signed by the chairman of the company.
Caba Pinter has also announced that as long as Mr. Ondaan has issued the shares certificate, then the deal was done though outstanding payments need to be made to shareholder director/consultant Mr. Michael Kenneth Ondaan.
One person who claimed to know nothing about the whole contract breach and the share agreement between the two parties affair in John Weir, the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) AMBITEL SL, on Wednesday 3rd July, 2013 told a news conference in Freetown on the present status of the company.
In what appeared as if the Libyans are not ready for any negotiations to resolve the problem, is that Lap-Green authorities in Libya have always refused to answer calls from director/consultant Mr. Ondaan.
However, it is being widely observed that for AMBITEL to continue with operations in Sierra Leone, Lap-Green has to settle the payments for contractors and other obliged liabilities immediately.
