Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By
William Yaw Owusu
Monday, November 10, 2014
There is an unfolding drama in the controversial
acquisition of chairs and other items by the leadership of Parliament for the
reconfiguration and refurbishment of the house from China.
It has emerged that, the actual cost of the project has
now ballooned to GH¢21,950,855 (¢220 billion) from the initial GH¢16million which
Parliament insisted was ‘reasonable.’
The Parliamentary Service Board chaired by Edward
Doe Adjaho caused a publication in the media last Saturday, seeking to end the
debate on the cost of their infamous decision to acquire chairs from China which
has now come to be ridiculed in local circles as ‘Chinese Toys’.
The publication justified quantum of money spent
ballooning from the initial GH¢8,704,325.48 to GH¢21,950,855 within one year,
raising questions of ‘chop chop’.
The chairs and other gadgets have already suffered
some setbacks with some falling apart in the House with MPs’ questioning their
quality.
Sole
Sourcing
Per the publication, the whole contract was
‘sole-sourced’ on the approval of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) on the
basis that some of the items listed for procurement were supposed to be
offshore and also due to time constraints.
“As per the PPA’s requirements for sole sourcing,
the Service caused and independent search to be conducted by M/Sampah, Sekyere
& Associates, a professional quantity surveyor which ascertained and validated the reasonableness of the amount
of GH¢21,950,855.00 as the total cost of the project.”
The publication showed that China State Hualong Construction
Limited who are said to be the main contractors on the Job 600 Tower Block
project was given the reconfiguration and refurbishment job as the sole source
contractor.
“The works were accordingly packaged as an
integrated single contract and awarded on a sole source basis in order to meet
the maximum completion period of 3 months inclusive of the pre-contract
processes,” Parliament explained.
Changing
Figures
The contract sum was said to have jumped from GH¢8,704,325.48
to GH¢21,950,855.00 and Parliament blamed the free fall of the Cedi on the
astronomical cost.
According to Parliament, at the time the contract
sum of GH¢8,704,325.48 which was equivalent $4,352,162.74 was approved by PPA,
and authorization granted by the Ministry of Finance on July 26, 2013, the
exchange rate was $1=GH¢2.
There was then what they called ‘upward adjustment’ on
July 15, 2014 where they said the exchange rate hovered at $1=GH¢3.85 and said that
occasioned about 92.5 percentage increase in the Cedi dollar exchange rate in
favour of the dollar adding “that led to an escalation of the original contract
sum to GH¢16,755,826.55.”
Parliament explained that the difference of $5,701,520.92
an equivalent of $1,349,358.18 of the contract sum of GH¢21,950,855.00 was
accounted for in the provision of all the items under the contract.
“Items for the execution of the works were procured
from a variety of sources including the UK, China, Spain and Ghana. To ensure
that items were delivered to specifications, trips were made to the respective
countries for factory acceptance tests by representatives of the leadership,
some MPs and the consultants and staff.”
The publication further said that “the project has
been delivered to time, cost and quality specifications. Residual works are
ongoing.”
Interestingly, the letter from the PPA granting
Parliament the power to sole source a contractor for the project was written on
Tuesday, August 14, 2014 even though the PPA reportedly approved the deal and
the authorization was granted by the Ministry of Finance as far back as July
26, 2013 which could have allowed local contractors to do the supply.
Interesting it was in the chamber of the House in
February when the president launched his buy made in Ghana goods.
But when the time came for Parliament to join the
campaign the leadership under Speaker Adjaho betrayed the cause and rather went
to China.
Nature
Of Products
The contractor was expected to provide 290 Imported
Hardwood Desks/Tables (Ergonomic workstations with anti-scratch surfaces), 290
executive swivel chairs (leader based, adjustable with castor wheels), electronic
installations (electronic touch screen displays with monitors, giant display
screens, video and camera) as well as electrical installations (electrical
re-wiring, power and enhanced lightening within chamber).
Air
Cargo
Sources said the whole item was brought into the
country by air cargo which is more expansive compared to sea freight.
Public
Uproar
The decision to acquire Chairs and other gadgets from
China for 275 MPs caused massive public uproar particularly with majority of
Ghanaians who are of the opinion that there were companies in Ghana capable of
doing the same job given to the Chinese.
The MPs have been criticized for their lack of
commitment towards patronizing Made-in-Ghana products which is often trumpeted
by the President himself while others have even expressed worry about the
quality of the chairs in the House, wondering why the board could find any
other country to execute the project apart from China.
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