The NPP government has become an albatross for Ghanaians with corrupt cases swallowing up the government in all fronts.
The latest on our desk has to do with the rots happening at Volta River Authority(VRA)
The VRA led by Mr. Emmanuel Darkwa who ideally should be on retirement because he is 63 years has been engaging in some fishy transactions which is a clear case of corruption.
In September 2022, the VRA under its CEO Emmanuel Darkwa wrote to the Public Procurement authority that they want to procure some equipment through a sole source tendering detailing the specific company they intend dealing with.
However, the company the VRA stated they are going to deal with wasn’t the only company they dealt with after the PPA approved their request.
This is a clear violation to Ghana’s procurement laws which suggests that when a state institution writes to PPA to seek for approval for a sole source contracts award, they do not add up any other third party company to what has already been presented to the Public Procurement Authority.
The interesting part of this revelation is that the VRA which wrote to the PPA did not contact the very manufacturer they stated in their letter that they will be dealing with.
The contract sum was 52 million dollars
*Procurement Scandal at VRA*
#. The request and subsequent approval to use Single Source Method for the items listed breaches the country’s procurement rules/laws. Only 2 out of the 11 items listed are being supplied by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), which is Braden Europe BV. All the other companies are third party firms. This is contrary to the basis for the approval given by PPA as indicated in the 2nd paragraph of the letter, for the US$52m approved.
#. General Electric (GE) of USA who are the OEM for the plants in question, and supplier for most of the items stated and who could offer relatively cheaper prices, were not contacted. So the PPA approval says VRA should engage the Original Equipment Manufacturer, but VRA deceives PPA by awarding the contracts to third parties who clearly are not the Original Equipment Manufacturer.
#. The prices stated by the various 3rd parties are unusually high. Other competent 3rd party companies could offer more competitive prices, if a more competitive open tender procurement method had been adopted. The prices quoted in these illegally sole-sourced contracts to favourite third party companies are dangerously inflated.
#. Some managers of State Institutions with selfish interests continue to mismanage state resources using their positions, in the face the country’s current difficult circumstances.
#. The VRA Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Engineering & Operations, Mr. Edward Obeng-Kenzo who is leading this corrupt and suspicious effort, with the backing of the Chief Executive, Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwa, who is almost 63 years old and has gone past his retirement age, should explain to Ghanaians why VRA has sole-sourced contracts to the tune of 52 million US Dollars to third party companies who do not qualify according to the procurement laws of Ghana. The VRA Chief Executive and his Deputy should explain to Ghanaians why they have deliberately decided to cause financial loss to the state even at a time the country is receiving a financial bailout from the IMF.
Kevin Taylor gave a full breakdown of the theft below on WADR
