Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa exposes scandalous US$48 million rural telephony project in Ghana
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
In a recent exposé, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has exposed a scandalous US$48 million rural telephony project being executed by Ascend Digital Solutions, owned by a Nigerian cabal who have allegedly grabbed juicy contracts in Ghana’s Communication sector under opaque circumstances.
The Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has feigned ignorance about the project.
According to Hon. Ablakwa, the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) has released a bizarre statement claiming that their Administrator does not recall providing a proof of contract attestation after he released the administrator’s signed document.
He further revealed that the Ascend project did not receive PPA approval as confirmed by the PPA’s response to his RTI request.
He also noted that the Commercial Agreement for the US$155 million rural telephony project as approved by Parliament on the 31st of March 2020 can only be executed by Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and China National Technical Import and Export Corporation (CNTIC).
Hon. Ablakwa further alleged that Ursula would rather prefer Ghanaians and the World Bank not to discover how her Ministry colluded with Ascend Digital Solutions to secure another US$50 million World Bank-sponsored contract under the eTransform project.
Bid documents, insider memos and various contracts in his possession reveal that the Ministry of Communications and its agencies: GIFEC and NITA confirmed to the World Bank that they had an existing contract with Ascend Digital Solutions.
“If the claims by Ursula and other government apologists that they have no contract with Ascend are to be believed, then the matter gets worse – it would mean that the new US$50 million World Bank funded eTransform contract awarded by the Ministry of Communications to the AirtelTigo/Ascend JV was fraudulently secured because they engaged in misrepresentation and further misled the World Bank when they swore that they had a contract with Ascend during the procurement process.” He wrote on his Facebook page
Hon. Ablakwa has promised to bring these findings and numerous other grave violations to the attention of the World Bank in the next few days.
He also added “I intends to share documents on the matter with the general public, in the spirit of transparency, truth, and accountability, so that they can make their own informed judgments”.
The World Bank has already warned of dire consequences when parties fail to observe the highest standard of ethics during the procurement process, selection, and contract execution.
Attached is his post and other relevant document
SOURCE: Coverghana.com.gh
