Policy Think Tank, IMANI Africa has dared the government to reveal the value and benefits the country is getting for the controversial $89 million Kelni GVG contract.
According to President of IMANI, Franklin Cudjoe, value for money analysis of the deal shows that it will not be beneficial to the state.
[contextly_sidebar id=”w2zoLQGQBRLA3I5r88n92IiLP1RVyL24″]The Contract between Kelni/GVG and government over the past week has been a cause of public controversy with many describing the deal as one that stinks.
Speaking to on The Big Issue on Saturday, Franklin Cudjoe indicated that government’s claim that the said contract saves the country 1.1 million dollars is untenable.
“We make money for value analysis, that’s all the campaign is about, the simple question is, if we are spending 1.5 million dollars for the next 10 years, what are you getting in return? That question has not been answered, the Ministry of Communications has not been able to answer that question,” he said.
The President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has demanded that the government rescind the $89 million contract between Ghana and a Haitian firm, GVG/Kelni.
This follows IMANI’s petition to the Vice President to revoke the contract for the design, development and implementation of a common platform for traffic monitoring, revenue assurance and mobile money monitoring.
But the Deputy Communications Minister, has also asked Franklin Cudjoe to admit that his Think Tank blundered in its scathing assessment of the contract with KelniGVG for the provision of oversight and revenue assurance monitoring equipment.
Background
Franklin Cudjoe had urged the government not to hesitate in abrogating the $89 million contract between Ghana and GVG/Kelni.
IMANI had earlier petitioned the Vice President to revoke the contract for the design, development and implementation of a common platform for traffic monitoring, revenue assurance and mobile money monitoring.
Already, the contract upon signing stipulates that a payment of about $1.5 million to be paid monthly for a five-year period.
Per the terms of the contract, which was signed in December 2017, the monthly payments are to begin no later than 30 days after the agreement was signed.
But Mr Cudjoe maintains that companies like Subah Infosolutions and Afriwave Telcom Ltd have already carried out the functions expected of the new firm.
The IMANI boss thus insisted that there should be no reason why this deal should stand.
“This contract is no different from the ones we signed in 2010 and 2015 under Subah and Afriwave. In fact, the two contracts were supposed to do the very things that this new contract is purportedly to do; revenue assurance and cheque fraud. The only thing that has been added this time around is mobile money monitoring for which we have given GHIPSS [Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited] $4 million to do.”
“First of all, we don’t know what work Subah did. We don’t know what work Afriwave has done. We don’t know what value they have added to the whole telecom industry for us to warrant another entity to come and repeat the same thing for the hefty sum of $89 million. It is a no no no.”
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By: Farida Yusif/citinewsroom.com/Ghana