Mahama Ayariga petitions OSP over BoG new head office project

The Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga has petitioned the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to investigate what he terms as suspected corruption in the new Bank of Ghana head office building project, which is under construction at Ridge in Accra. 

In a petition dated October 30, 2023 and addressed to the Special Prosecutor, Mr Ayariga alleged that there were corrupt practices involved in the the procurement processes.

He alleged the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison; the first Deputy Governor, Dr Maxwell Opoku-Afari, the Second Deputy Governor, Elsie Addo Awadzi and some other members of the board of the bank were involved.

He therefore wants the Special Prosecutor to take up the matter.

Attached below is a copy of the petition

The Special Prosecutor,
Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP),
Accra. Republic of Ghana

Dear Sir,
REPORT OF CASE OF SUSPECTED CORRUPTION AND CORRUPTION RELATED OFFENSES IN THE PROCUREMENT OF THE NEW HEADQUARTERS BUILDING OF THE BANK OF GHANA UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I hereby make a formal complaint to your office to investigate what I believe to be a case of corruption in the procurement of the new headquarters building of the Bank of Ghana at Ridge in Accra.

The suspects in this case include the Governor and Deputy Governors of the Bank of Ghana, namely: Dr Ernest Addison (Governor), Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari (1st Deputy Governor) and Mrs Elsie Addo Awadzi (2nd Deputy Governor). Members of the Board of Directors should also be investigated. 

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The other suspect is the Chief Executive Officer of Messrs. Goldkey Properties Ltd who are the contractors.

The project consultants supervising the work should also be investigated.

In spite of a written request to the Governor of the Bank of Ghana under the Right to formation Act, the Governor and his team have not been able to explain to me how there was a price escalation from USD 121,807,8517.94 to USD 222,799,760.55 (about 84%) when the scope of work increased from 73.000 square meters to about 107.737 square meters (36.9%.)

When the National Democratic Congress (NDC Members of Parliament (MP) led a public demonstration to demand the accountability of the Governor and his Deputy Governors. the Governor called the MPs all sorts of names and asked them to use institutional mechanisms to hold him accountable.

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I believe the Office of Special Prosecutor has jurisdiction to investigate all cases of suspected "corruption and corruption-related offences" by public officers and private persons working with public officials under section 2(a) and 79 of The Office of Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959).

The Bank of Ghana had originally priced the project at USD 100,857,924.48 for 73,000sq.m but got the project awarded to Messrs. Goldkey Properties Limited, in the same year, at a contract sum of USD 121,807,8517.94.

A subsequent variation of the scope of works of about 36.9% increase saw a project cost escalation of 84% increase which has resulted in the about 107,737q.m building project now costing USD 222,799,760.55,

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I am ready to testify to all the facts I have come across in this matter and I believe your office will be able to obtain all the details of the variations of the project design and costing variations to arrive at a conclusion on this matter.

When I wrote to the Governor for an explanation, he responded to me in a letter dated 22nd August 2023 and referenced SFGEN7202375, to the effect that he is unable to provide me with the full details of the project design variation which has led to the price escalation for reasons of "National Security".

This refusal to explain the price escalation founds my suspicion of corruption in the procurement.

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I count on you to carry out a thorough investigation of this matter and brief the Ghanaian people appropriately and where necessary to carry out prosecutions.

In the service of our motherland.