I never abrogated Isofoton contract – Mpiani

Former Chief of Staff in the Kufuor administration has refuted repetitive claims that he personally and unilaterally abrogated a contract awarded to Spanish company Isofoton S.A, to provide solar energy services for Ghana.

The allegations surfaced for the umpteenth time following the Ghanaian Supreme Court’s Friday unanimous ruling describing as illegal, the payment of US$325,000 to the company as judgment debt in connection with the purported abrogation of a contract it had with the Government of Ghana.

Mr. Mpiani's predecessor, Nana Ato Dadzie, resurrected the allegation when he spoke on Joy FM’s News analysis programme, ‘News file,’ on Saturday June 22, 2013.

He said Mr. Mpiani wrote a letter to set aside the contract between the Government of Ghana and Isofoton S.A.

In a rebuttal, however, Mr. Mpiani clarified that he, as the Chief of Staff, merely chaired a committee set up by former President John Kufuor to sift through a number of Spanish companies and determine which of them could efficiently execute the 60 million-euro project.

He said the sifting was done by the Government of Ghana through the help of the Spanish Government which, according to Mr. Mpiani, recommended which of the companies could competently handle the job.

“…The committee decided that we should give this [the contract] to that company which had been recommended to us. This was sent to the president and the president approved and [I] being the chairman, wrote to the Ministry of Agriculture that this project should be given to this company”.

“So that was the decision of government which I, as the Chief of Staff, communicated to the ministry concerned. So this wrong impression which goes all along that I abrogated the contract and I, on my own, selected the company and gave the job to, is wrong; it’s not true”, Mr. Mpiani clarified.