Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has taken a swipe at former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta over the controversial revenue assurance contract awarded to Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML).
According to the award-winning journalist and author, signing such a deal reflects a high level of wickedness and disregard for the country’s welfare.
“It takes extreme wickedness against your nation and its people to sign contracts like SML,” the journalist wrote in a social media post on Thursday, October 30.
His comment follows revelations by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), which accused the embattled former minister of causing “significant financial loss to the state” through the SML contract.
The OSP explained that although the deal initially appeared legitimate, a deeper review uncovered serious issues including conflict of interest, procurement breaches, and abuse of public office.
Speaking at a press conference, Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng said SML was incorporated on February 14, 2017, and just four months later sought approval to be sole-sourced for a “classification, valuation and risk management platform” for the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The OSP argued that these events, which coincided with Mr. Ofori-Atta’s assumption of office, formed “precursors of a masterfully and mischievously crafted scheme” that used public office for profit while manipulating the procurement process.
“These events show a tightly knit, non-coincidental association of the previously unseen power that unlawfully force-fed the company into the revenue assurance drive of the GRA through a series of reckless decision-making and management,” Mr. Agyebeng said.
He added that Mr. Ofori-Atta “directly and indirectly influenced the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage, contrary to section 92(2)(b) of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).”
Source: Modernghana.com
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