Accra, July 2, GNA - The Minority in Parliament on Wednesday registered its disapproval of the general lack of openness and transparency in the privatization of Ghana Telecom (GT), saying it had major national security and economic implications for the country.

They questioned why government was exclusively negotiating with only Vodafone Plc UK "without consideration for other bidders who are likely to offer higher bids than Vodafone and address the socio-economic needs of the country".

It thus reminded government of the provisions of the Constitution and the Public Procurement Act calling on government not to conclude the transaction without parliamentary approval, because the value of GT should attract more than what was being offered.

Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, Ranking Member of the Committee of Communications of Parliament, told the media at a press conference in Accra that the current situation was "clearly against and in breach" of established norms and standards for the privatization of a telecom entity as required by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). He queried why the privatization process of GT could not be subjected to a competitive public tender process for all interested bidders as required by the Public Procurement Act.

Government in 2006 initiated a process to identify a strategic investor to acquire 65 per cent of equity of GT and to take over management of its operations. Subsequently 66.7 per cent of shares in GT were advertised for sale, with offers received from major players in the industry including Egypt Telecom, France Telecom, Globacom and a local Ghanaian-led consortium.

France Telecom offered the highest bid of 550 million dollars for 60 per cent of the shares, an offer that did not meet government's expectation, necessitating government to suspend the sale in 2008 due unsatisfactory terms from bidders.

Vodafone, according to government sources, then made an offer of 960 million dollars for 70 per cent of GT's assets - the Onetouch mobile and fixed telephone networks.

The Minority stated that it was not averse to the privatization of the GT, but its contention was that the sale should rake in 1.5 billon dollars or more for the value of GT.

"We are aware of government's desperate need for cash to finance a gaping budget deficit. However, it is important to advise government to take into serious consideration, the supreme national interest and value for money, for this all important exercise. "The value of Ghana Telecom should be higher than what is being offered.

"Onetouch alone should be able to bring in one billion dollars if managed properly and to think that we are getting such bids for both the mobile and fixed networks of the GT are unthinkable." "Is someone causing financial loss to the state?" he asked. The Minority said the requirements advertised by government stated that the strategic investor should have a fixed-line operations experience.

The selection of Vodafone, the only mobile operator flouted the government's own non-negotiable selection criteria that states that successful bidder must have significant experience operating fixed wire-line telecommunications network.

They contended that GT was the only company in Ghana with fixed communications assets that were essential to provision of the broadband services, critical for the development of Information Communication Technology (ICT) for economic growth and social progress. It said Vodafone could not meet these requirements because it had no fixed network operations record and experience, and as such may abandon the fixed network operations in favour of the highly profitable mobile wireless operations.

They also registered their disappointment at the inclusion of the National Fibre Optic backbone project in the transaction, demanding to know why this had become part of the deal when the project had never been part of GT's assets. They proposed that government should hold 51 per cent of the shares

of the GT and then float 49 per cent of the shares for interested partners to buy into the company.