General News of Monday, 23 April 2018
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2018-04-23
Dr. John Ofori Tenkorang, Director General of Social Security and National Insurance Trust, SSNIT
Director General of Social Security and National Insurance Trust, SSNIT has rubbished claims that he is witch hunting his predecessor in relation to the Pricewaterhouse Coopers audit.
John Ofori Tenkorang says he is merely doing his work meticulously and the audit is to help him appreciate the system he inherited.
“I am not looking to witch-hunt anyone. I need to know what is working and what is not working and I need an independent expert to do that,” he told Joy News in an interview.
Dr. Tenkorang says he views his work at SSNIT as a business and he will strive to see it flourish.
“I have always said I have a business to run and that is what I want to focus on”.
“…I want to look into the future and make the fortunes of SSNIT contributors and pensioners better than it has been and that has been my contribution to the people of Ghana…” he stated.
He added that the current management of SSNIT will study the PwC audit report and be guided by its recommendations going forward.
The PwC report has suggested that SSNIT may need to replace the automation software procured by the former management totally. Responding to that, Dr. Tenkorang said they will consider their options.
“We will study it and if there are things we can fix we will if not then we will have to chart a different path,” he said.
At a press conference last week the current managers of SSNIT cited the former SSNIT boss, Ernest Thompson and some others for causing financial loss to the state to the tune of GH¢147 million.
This is in relation to the procurement of the controversial Operating Business Suite (OBS) automation software.
This has however, attracted criticism from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Lawyer Abraham Amaliba who is a legal team member of the NDC argued that PwC was wrong not to personally contact Ernest Thompson during the auditing.
“Would you believe that PwC never contacted Ernest Thompson…if this is not witch hunting then what is it,” he asked.
Lawyers for Ernest Thompson have also accused SSNIT of churning out half-truths.