On top of the list of persons to be invited for questioning are; the Executive Chairman for Supercare Group, William Oppong-Bio, the former Ghana’s Ambassador to China, Edward Boateng, and the Board Chair of Ghana Bauxite Company (GBC) Isaac Ofori-Poku. These individuals, according to the source were instrumental in the negotiation and other processes that lead to the securing of the barter deal with the Chinese.
The substantive cases which prompted this investigation is yet to be uncovered.
A number of road infrastructure projects financed under this deal have stalled since last year. Earlier this year, it was reported that ongoing projects under the deal have been caused to be suspended due to government’s negotiations for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
With this new development, there is reasonable cause to believe this investigation could be a factor to the suspension of works on Sinohydro projects.
Background
In 2018, Ghana signed a memorandum with China to explore Ghana’s deposits of bauxite—the primary ore in aluminum.
The barter trade deal will involve alumina processed from bauxite deposits in the country for a facility of US$2billion from Sinohydro Group Limited for infrastructural development.
Under the memorandum, Ghana will cede 5% of its bauxite resources to the Chinese. In turn, Beijing will finance $2 billion worth of infrastructure projects that include rails, roads, and bridge networks.
Part of the agreement is a $10 billion dollar project earmarked for expansion of the mines, industrial, and railway sectors. A bauxite processing factory is to be established.
Content created and supplied by: Blind_Justice (via Opera
News )
Comments are closed.