Sam George doubts Finance Minister can survive judgement day over ¢10m “illegal” contract

• Posted on September 5, 2017
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The Finance minister has come under fire from NDC MPs who are crying foul over the award of a 10million cedi contract without approval from the Public Procurement Authority.

Picking up the theme of cronyism echoed Tuesday afternoon by the Minority, Ningo-Prampram MP Sam George told Joy News later in the evening, the breaches of the law are clear.

The Minority at a press conference produced a letter signed by the Finance minister authorising adb bank to disburse ¢10.459 million to McDan Shipping company.

Incidentally, the company had also won a COCOBOD contract also granted him by the Finance minister without the approval of the Central Tender Review Committee of the Public Procurement Authority.

These two developments, the Minority says, portends dangerous times for corporate governance in Ghana because the Finance minister is reaching beyond his authority.

Without giving details of the exact breach in the law, Sam Goerge said on Newsnite, ” no section of Financial Administration Act that gives him those powers.”

He said the NPP after demonising the previous government for using sole sourcing to dish out contracts to cronies are also doing the same thing.

McDan, the NDC pointed out, played a role in the NPP’s attempt to bring into the country foreign nationals which the party claims were to train the security team around their 2016 presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo.

The Minority said the 10.4m loan to the company, therefore, smacks of “nepotism and blatant partisanship.”

Sam George questioned the authenticity of the Finance minister’s Christian faith after disregarding laid down procurement process.

“Can I ask the Finance minister…he professes to be a very good Christian. If he will be able to face the Lord on judgement day and say to the Lord that he carried himself right.”

He said the Minority would boycott the 2018 budget approval later in the year if the various Boards of public institutions are not constituted by the president.

“We cannot continue an illegality. We will not be approving the budget of government”, he said explaining Parliament approved expenditures for state institutions in the knowledge that its boards will be in place to ensure good corporate governance practices.

-joynews