Member of parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has described the silence of the finance ministry which was implicated in his exposé dubbed: ‘Kitchen Scandal’, as deafening.
According to him, there is the need for the finance ministry to come out and respond to the allegations captured in the exposé. It revealed that the ministry must necessarily explain to Ghanaians why it was entertaining Gabby Otchere-Darko’s threats in the face of the Value for Money Assessment Report submitted to the Ministry on August 11, 2017, which concluded that the West Blue contract did not offer value for money and may have been overstated by US$64million.
“The silence of the Ministry of Finance many days after the “Kitchen Scandal” broke is most deafening… The Ministry must explain why they were pressurizing GRA at Gabby’s insistence when the Ministry of Finance after the Value for Money Assessment Report which was a condition precedent for the contract to be effective, terminated the West Blue contract on December 31, 2018, after renegotiating the contract price downwards from 0.35% to 0.28% of CIF.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Finance ministry urged to speak on West Blue saga
Furthermore, Mr Ablakwa expressed the need for the finance ministry to inform Ghanaians the justification Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko could have by demanding his “questionable” GHS187.3million shortfall which according to him, is derived from 0.35% of CIF when “Gabby knows that the Ministry of Finance led by his cousin, Ken Ofori-Atta, reviewed that price downwards to 0.28% of CIF which was duly communicated to West Blue on January 25, 2018 and same accepted by West Blue”.
He emphasized that the Ministry of Finance belongs to the people of Ghana, and it must be accountable to them.
“No matter Gabby’s spin and chicanery, he has been exposed, and we the sovereign people will ensure that we scuttle this grand scheme by the “Kitchen Cabinet” to continue with their insatiable state capture and deny the Ghanaian people a staggering GHS187.3million of our taxes which could be used to alleviate the plight of the suffering masses under this bankrupt economy.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
It will be recalled that in his expose, Mr Ablakwa disclosed that Mr Otchere-Darko and Attorney General, Godfred Dame, were of the opinion that despite the fact that the value-for-money condition precedent was not met, the contract is still valid. He explained that the duo have also questioned the post value-for-money contract downward revisions and are insisting that the colossal West Blue demands are met.
Nonetheless, the North Tongu legislator noted that the “Gabby-Godfred positions run contrary to what the Finance Ministry had earlier communicated to West Blue through former Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. Kwaku Kwarteng on January 25, 2018, which the latter accepted in writing”.
Among other things, he stated that what was increasingly troubling is the shifting position of the Ministry of Finance to align with Mr Otchere-Darko on the matter. He stated that insiders at the finance ministry reveal that officials are terrified as the “Prime Minister’s” pressure mounts.
Already, Mr Ablakwa stated that it is suspected in several quarters that the former Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance, Mr Patrick Nomo, was transferred because he wasn’t cooperating on the matter. Owing to this, he indicated that the new Chief Director and Ken Ofori-Atta staunch ally, Eva Esselba Mends, seems more “amenable and is piling pressure on GRA” to respond to Gabby’s 6-week ultimatum for payment to be effected.
Furthermore, he stated that analysts agree that Eva won’t be writing those letters to GRA if she didn’t have the finance minister’s approval, and that his cousin, Mr Otchere-Darko, won’t be “getting bolder and bolder with his threats and ultimatums if the family had a genuine objection”.
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