Alhassan Suhuyini, a member of parliament for Tamale North, has referred to Ghana as a crime scene as a result of events like the payment of $2 million to investors for the Sky Train agreement, despite the lack of feasibility studies.
Alhassan Suhuyini stated that while everyone in Ghana is going through a difficult time at the moment, public funds should not be wasted this way.
On July 18, he said that although the mid-year budget is going to be read, there is expected to be an increase in taxes and the introduction of additional levies because the country needs more money. This he emphasized, is a difficult period for Ghanaians.
However, Alhassan Suhuyini has requested that Attorney-General Godfred Dame look into how the $2 million given to the investors for the Sky Train contract was spent while there were no feasibility studies in place.
“More revenue for what? For these kinds of transactions? $ 2 million here, hundreds of millions of Ghana Cedis there, without any benefits to us? If for nothing at all, the Attorney-General must up his game, these are the things that the Attorney-General must concern himself with.
“Clearly, the Attorney-General must be busy with things like these in saving the state money and retrieving these lost funds to the state at a time the state badly needs money to pay picketing pensioner bondholders, to pay food suppliers and uniform suppliers.”
Alhassan Suhuyini
The issue with the supplier of government uniforms was also brought up by the Tamale North MP. He therefore questioned how a contract for school uniforms could be given to a person who has to travel to China to print the uniforms before deciding on the final price for everyone to pay. The uniform suppliers, he claimed, are a different kettle of fish.
“This country is a crime scene with this government in place. I am happy that the leadership of the Minority has taken up this particular matter and is demanding action from Attorney-General for this money to be retrieved.”
Alhassan Suhuyini
The minority in Parliament has been pressing the government for clarification on the $2 million investment. According to the Minority, no feasibility assessments had also been done before the payment was issued.
It is recalled that the report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana- Public Boards, Corporations and other Statutory Institutions for 2021 stated that the Ai Sky Train Consortium Holdings which is the special purpose vehicle was yet to obtain a license in the country.
Sky Train Is A Scam
Kofi Adams, a member of parliament for the Buem constituency, called the government’s $2 million investment in the construction of Accra’s sky train a fraud.
Mr. Adams claimed that the project’s contracted company lacks a license and that the contract’s feasibility assessment is missing.
He stressed that this failed deal, along with many others under the Akufo-Addo administration and not the conflict between Russia and Ukraine or the COVID-19 pandemic, is to blamed for the current economic catastrophe.
“It’s one of the scams. It’s a scam because there has not been any feasibility study, there’s nothing, the company has no license, we don’t know it from anywhere and you just give away $2 million dollars and nothing has happened.”
Kofi Adams
He further argued that the initiative is a fraud as a result of the contradictory information provided by the government. He stated that according to the present Minister for Railway Development, the sky train cannot exist at this time but the CEO also stated differently that the initiative is still in progress. He then questioned, “who’s telling us the truth?”
Ghana and a South African company inked a contract in 2019 to build an above-ground railway. At the start of the Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg, this agreement was reached.
The 194 km of train tracks are expected to be able to carry up to 400,000 passengers annually along with five routes, all in the Greater Accra area. John Peter Amewu, the Minister of Railway Development, has bemoaned the project’s enormous cost, therefore it is unlikely to be completed any time soon. He claimed that the nation has more urgent needs.
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