By William
Yaw Owusu
Friday May
18, 2018
Pressure group OccupyGhana has put pressure on the
Bank of Ghana (BoG) to release for public perusal the two contracts regarding
the national switch to make mobile money payments and other transfers
interoperable (i.e. link to each other) in the banking and financial system.
The first contract, worth a whopping GH¢4.6 billion,
was signed during the erstwhile Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC)
administration between the BoG and a private firm - Sibton Switch Systems
Limited - believed to have been led by Roland Agambire of rLG fame.
The second contract, signed under President
Akufo-Addo’s New Patriotic Party (NPP)
administration, was between the central bank and theGhana Interbank Payment and
Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) at the cost of cost GH¢18.4 million.
The NPP government has been able to complete the
same project with only GH¢18.4 million, according to Vice President Dr.
Mahamudu Bawumia. Mahama’s NDC government was going to use GH¢4.6 billion but
the contract was terminated.
A letter sent to the Governor of BoG with copies to
the vice president and the chief of staff maintained, “OccupyGhana respectfully
writes to formally request for copies of contract documents and agreements
between the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and Sibton Switch Systems Limited in relation
to the Mobile Money Interoperability contract abrogated by the current
Government of Ghana.
“We specifically require documents relating to and
surrounding the termination of the Sibton Contract.” We additionally, request
to be furnished with all relevant documents pertaining to the new contract
signed with the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS)
to execute the Mobile Money Interoperability project.”
Kwaku Segbefia, who d signed the letter on behalf of
OccupyGhana, said members were further requesting for all related tender
documents and legal opinions obtained by the central bank in relation to the two
contracts.
They said they were asking the documents under “the
enshrined citizens’ Right to Information under Article 21 of the 1992 Republican
Constitution.”
Under
the project, Sibton was to raise the funds and develop the project by earning a
percentage of fees over a 25-year
period to cover the $1.2 billion price tag plus return on investment.
However, the price for a simple gateway and ledger
for a few billing engines at over $1.2 billion has been described by many as
one of the ‘craziest, most ridiculous scams hatched’ on the government of Ghana
by some experts.
A former deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG),
Dr. Johnson P. Asiama, has been defending the ‘dodgy’ GH¢4.6 billion contract.
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