The Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, has threatened to report the Governor of the Bank of Ghana and his deputies to the Office of the Special Prosecutor for investigation.
According to him, the bank and its executives have refused to provide details concerning the project.
He accused the governor of colluding with contractors to defraud the state.
In a letter dated October 2, 2023, he wrote: “I write to inform you that I will refer you and your deputies to the Office of the Special Prosecutor for investigation and possible prosecution. This is in relation to the matter of the award of a contract for the construction of a new head office building for the Bank of Ghana. I suspect that your team, in collusion with the contractors, overpriced the project with a possible view to obtaining personal gain.”
Ayariga said his efforts to retrieve information on the details of the project have been fruitless on the grounds of national security.
He said: “I reject your use of “national security considerations” as a reason to refuse to answer my questions properly. My decision to report you is in view of your refusal to provide a proper response to my request for information pursuant to the Right to Information Request.”
However, the NDC MP said he will not rest until the truth about the contracts for the construction of BoG’s new head office comes to bare.
“Let me assure you that we will pursue you until you come clean on how a project which you yourself had originally priced at USD100,857,924.48 for 73,000sq.m got awarded to Messrs. Goldkey Properties Limited, in the same year, at USD121,807,8517.94 and how a variation in scope of works of about 36.9% increase has led to a project cost escalation of 84% increase which has resulted in the 107,737sq.m now costing USD 222,799,760.55. This is a project priced in United States Dollars. This we do for the love of country and in pursuit of A Better Ghana,” he stated.
SSD/DAG
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