The Minority in Parliament has raised red flags over an alleged procurement scandal at the Bulk Oil and Transportation Company (BOST) to the tune of US$ 39 million.
The caucus alleges that, a contract sum for the construction of a single unit tower estimated at US$ 39 million has been inflated and approved by the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) at US$78 million, indicating a 100 percent inflated price.
More shocking to the Minority is the fact that, the total amount of US$78 million could get BOST a twin-unit tower as initially agreed under the contract.
Addressing the press in Parliament today, July 28, 2022, John Abdulai Jinapor, MP for Yapei-Kusawgu Constituency and Ranking Member, Mines and Energy Committee said the development is deliberately being superintended by the Akufo-Addo government without recourse to the law and respect to the citizenry amidst the current economic hardships.
“We are firm in our conviction that this is a classic case of causing financial loss to the state. This is another PDS, Ameri and Movinpina scandal in the making. The Energy sector under the current NPP administration has become a Pollution Haven for regularized corruption, inflated favouritism, and rusted nepotism”, he said.
According to the Minority, former Chief Executive Officer at BOST, Kwame Awuah Darko began the construction of the twin tower office in 2015 to serve as office accommodation and enhance internally generated funds at the company.
In its claim, the current Akufo-Addo-Bawumia administration falsely accused Mr. Awuah Darko of inflating and padding the contract and as a result, they suspended the project.
It said, although Mr. Awuah Darko was cleared of any wrongdoing after a probe by the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), recent developments and documents available uncovered the “outrageous scandal”.
“We say so because we have noted that the current Management of BOST decided to acquire only one of the twin unit buildings due to the precarious financial position of the company, however, it applied to the Public Procurement Authority for approval to vary the original contract for the single unit from the original price of $19. 5 million per unit to a new cost of $24 million.”
“To our utmost shock and dismay, but, of course, as usual of this government, the PPA without any reasonable justification in granting the approval hiked the contract sum to an inflated figure of $39,000,000.00 (Thirty-Nine Million United Sates Dollars) for a single unit when BOST could have originally constructed the twin-tower office at the original price of $39 million”, Mr. Jinapor further accused the government.
The Minority is thus calling on government to come clean on the matter and desist from abusing the public purse.
“We, the Minority in Parliament, hereby serve notice that anything short of an independent investigation shall be rejected and denounced by the NDC and the good people of Ghana. We shall remain vigilant and resolute in our quest to ensure that the continuous looting and plundering of the resources of BOST which is our collective strategic national asset is brought to an immediate halt.”
