Oboshie has caused financial loss to the state -CJA

The Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has cited Minister for Tourism and Diasporan Relations, Mrs. Oboshie Sai Cofie, as one of the top NPP personalities who have caused financial loss to the state under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Her name came up as the Chief Executive Officer of Axis Advertising Agency Ltd., and as the sole director of another agency, Media Touch Productions Ltd, two companies that are working on state contracts.

A member of the Committee for Joint Action (CJA), Mr. Kwesi Pratt Jnr, Who disclosed this information to the press in Accra, said, Media Touch Productions Ltd was given a contract by the National Health Insurance Council (NHIC).

According to him, the Auditor-General’s report for the period January, 2005 to September 2005 revealed that, Axis Advertising was awarded a media consultancy contract to monitor and revise media campaign and advertisement, a contract the NHIC sole-sourced the company for, while two other companies, Media Plus and the Minister’s Media Touch were also contracted by the Council to post advertisement at various media houses.

“The two companies (Media Plus and the Minister’s Media Touch) charged agency services as well as commissions totaling ¢359,925,286 for the same services provided by Axis Advertising Ltd,” he said, adding that, the auditors advised the Council not to pay that sum of money to the two media houses and called for abrogation of the contract with them. This, Mr. Pratt said, is only a small part of the general looting of state coffers by members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government and their friends. Mr. Pratt noted that, the NHIC contrary to the Procurement Act, Act 663, had as the time of the audit, not set up the requisite structures, yet went ahead to procure various items worth ¢12,296,607,329.

The NHIC, he said, applied sole sourcing procurement method for those purchases, and did not refer the contracts, which were worth more than ¢2.0 billion, to the Ministry of Health as the law requires. According to the CJA, Article 21 (5) of the Procurement Act, 2003 states: “A procurement entity shall not divide a procurement order into parts or lower the value of procurement in order to avoid the application of the procedures for public procurement.” However it explained, the NHIC, in contravention of that policy fragmented the procurement of 1,550,000 campaign brochures worth ¢2,112,000,000 into eight (8) transactions, lowering the value of the procurement order from [a total of] ¢2,112,000,000 to ¢276,000,000 each as well awarded the contract to eight different suppliers.

The leading member of CJA indicated that, out of the NHIC contract for media work and others, a whopping ¢9,552,801,541, representing 78.0%, went to the two sister companies, Media Touch and Media Plus. Furthermore, he said, the then Executive Secretary of NHIS, Dr. S. A. Akor, and two task force members Mr. Ampong Darkwa and Mr. Kwasi Amo, paid themselves honorarium for thirteen (13) days a month as well extra honorarium of ¢112.2 million contrary to the Minister of Health’s directive that, members of the ministerial task force should be paid honorarium for only ten (10) days for every month.

The auditors recommended the collection of the excess monies from the three gentlemen, which amounts, they directed, must be paid into the Council’s coffers.Mr. Praff said, consultants’ appointment included Mr. Ampong Darkwa and Mr. Kwasi Amo, both members of the Ministry of Health’s Ministerial task force.“Mr. Ampong Darkwa established a company, Mckof (GH) Ltd, and was awarded consultancy contracts worth ¢1,332,296,000 by the NHIS whilst Mr. Kwasi Amo established a company, Organizations and Systems Ltd which was also awarded consultancy contracts worth ¢1,250,176,000”, he stressed.

At the Ga DMHIS, he said, the company; Organizations and Systems Ltd was paid additional ¢56,000,000 for installation and maintenance of computerized management information and control systems even though ¢120,000,000 had been paid to the same company for the same job. Touching on the breach of procurement law, he noted that, the contract awarded to Media Touch Productions Ltd and Media Plus respectively by the National Health Insurance Council (NHIC) for adverts and NHIS documentary drama in print and electronic media through single source procurement method are examples.

To the CJA, it is unacceptable when officer, aware of the requirements of the Procurement Act and Stores Regulations (1984), made officers who received goods to act as verifiers and auditors. Also, government incurred a cost of ¢58.6 million citing the 17,000 copies of wall posters, which were not accounted for, Mr. Pratt added.He called on the government to publish all actions taken in connections with the Auditor-General’s report on the NHIS; prosecute all those identified as having contravened the Public Procurement Act as required by law and should take steps to retrieve all monies stolen or misapplied under the NHIS.“Until President Kufuor takes actions to rectify these and other acts of malfeasance within his government, all his claims about the application of the law on public accountability shall remain hollow and meaningless,” he stressed.