The Minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament (MPs) say they are not happy about the continuous breach of the country’s laws and usurpation of authority of some other government institutions and agencies by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
The concerns of the Minority NDC MPs is borne out of a recent GH₵10,459,500 ADB Bank loan approved by Mr. Ofori-Atta to MacDan Shipping Company Limited to finance a contract it has secured from Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).
The approval of the said loan, according to the NDC MPs, violates best corporate governance practice and the laws governing such transaction.
That notwithstanding, the loan approval occurred at a time when the ADB had no Board in place, a situation, the NDC MPs noted, is a clear usurpation of authority by the Finance Minister.
The contract, for which authorization of the ADB loan was approved by the Minister for Finance, the NDC MPs added, originated from the COCOBOD and did not go through competitive tendering process.
This means that the said contract to MacDan Shipping Company Limited was awarded using the sole sourcing procurement process.
“Was the contract awarded through a competitive tendering procurement process? If this was done, the value of the contract (GH₵10.46million) would dictate that it goes through the Central Tender Review Committee. As at the time the contract was awarded, the Central Review Tender Committee was not in place. Using the competitive tendering procurement process without recourse to this critical government entity would also constitute a violation of the procurement process,” the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu noted when addressing the media in Accra on Tuesday, September 5, 2017, over their concerns.
He added “Given the key role played by the current Finance Minister in the campaign and related activities of the NPP, the hasty unilateral approval of this loan in breach of laid down laws and procedures raises serious questions. This also adds to a growing list of conflict of interest situations in which the Finance Minister seems to be entangled – the US$2.25billion bond, as well as the appointment of close relatives and his business associates to key positions at the Finance Ministry, the Bank of Ghana and a number of other state institutions.”
Worried about the trend of events, the NDC group wants President Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo to immediately direct the reversal of these “illegal decisions and acts of malfeasance as well as take appropriate steps to restore good corporate governance practices in our state-owned enterprises, in this case ADB.”
They also called on the President to appoint Board of Directors for all government entities to ensure best corporate governance practices in the country.