I have a clearing contract with Cocobod and not a supply contract - McDan

The Chief Executive Officer of McDan Shipping Company, Mr Daniel McCauley has explained that he has a clearing contract with the Ghana Cocobod and not a supply contract as published.

According to him, the agreement he has with Cocobod was in relation to the clearance of fertilizers for farmers across the country.

This, he explained was something he has been doing for long and that it was false for the Minority in Parliament to give it a political twist.

He insisted that as for clearing of goods, he doesn’t need to go through tender, and that he does it as and when Cocobod have goods to clear at the ports and he doesn’t have a supply contract with Cocobod as was being peddled. A supply contract is required to go through procurement processes unlike a clearing one, he said.

ADB facility

In an interview with Graphic Online’s Mabel Aku Baneseh, Mr McCauley said as a businessman who is a customer of the ADB Bank, nothing stops him from picking a credit facility from the bank and that he applied for a facility to help with his clearing business.

On Tuesday, the Minority in Parliament questioned the propriety and capacity of the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, who singlehandedly gave the ADB the go ahead to grant a GH¢10,459,500 loan facility to McDan.

Read also: Minority berates Finance Minister’s loan deal for private company

Below is a copy of the letter ADB wrote to the Finance Minister.

According to the Minority, the Minister in the letter dated June 9, 2017 authorised the bank to grant the said amount to MacDan to enable it execute a “supply contract” awarded it by Cocobod.

The Minority raised issues with how the said “supply contract” was given by Cocobod through “sole sourcing” considering that the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) has no board as of now.

But Mr McCauley insists that his contract with Cocobod was not a supply one.

Clearing contract

Checks by Graphic Online has found out that the word “supply contract” came from the ADB letter which was sent to the Finance Minister asking for his approval, and the Minister responded based on the ABD letter.

Checks by Graphic Online’s Mabel Aku Baneseh at the ADB on why the bank used “supply contract” instead of “clearing contract” as explained by Mr McCauley was yet to yield a response as officials at the bank have promised to get back to Graphic Online.

Below is a copy of the letter from the Finance Minister in response to the ADB letter.

Govt response

Meanwhile government has refuted the accusation by the Minority in Parliament that the Minister of Finance breached the requirement for the Board of Directors of the bank to give such approval.

A Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, told Graphic Online’s Musah Yahaya Jafaru that that due to the absence of a Board of Directors, the ADB sought the permission of the Minister of Finance and other significant shareholders of the bank to grant the loan to MacDan Shipping Company Limited. (Reference the two letters above)

Part of the letter reads: "In the absence of a Board of Directors we write to seek the approval of the significant shareholders of the bank to enable it disburse the facility to the customer."

Mr Oppong Nkrumah said in a letter dated June 9, 2017, Mr Ofori-Atta made reference to the request letter before granting the approval for the disbursement of the credit facility to the company.

He said Mr Ofori-Atta in the letter asked the ADB to do due diligence before extending the facility to MacDan Shipping Company Limited.

Paragraph three of the letter reads: "You are hereby directed to ensure that the necessary due diligence is done before the disbursement of the loan as well as ratification of the approval of the loan, once the Board is put in place."

The Deputy Minister said the Board of the ADB had now been constituted, and indicated that the agreement for the GH¢10.45 million to MacDan Shipping Company Limited was before the Board for ratification.

Writer's email: enoch.frimpong@graphic.com.gh

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