Ghana has been hit with another huge judgment debt as the country is set to pay over 70 million dollars to West Africa Gas Limited after a ruling by the London Court of Arbitration.
The dispute came after the termination by the Claimant, West Africa Gas Limited of a Gas Sales Agreement dated 9 October 2015 between WAGL and the Republic of Ghana.
This latest judgment debt comes after the country was hit with over 170 million judgment debt after a power contract agreement between the government of Ghana and GCGP was wrongfully terminated.
https://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/judgment-debt.jpg183275adminhttps://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CW-logo-100by80.pngadmin2021-07-02 12:33:102021-07-02 12:58:17Ghana hit with another judgment debt; Over $70m to be paid to WAGL
…As total infractions hit GHC5.46bn at end of 2019
The Auditor General has discovered that 25 instances of financial irregularity took place at the University of Cape Coast and its various colleges and subsidiaries as at the end of 31st December, 2019.
Corruption Watch’s tabulation of the amount of individual irregularities shows that the infractions involve a total of GHC88,289,417.16. In addition, the amount constitutes 49.09% of irregularities recorded for institutions under the ministry of education.
According to the Auditor General, “…the Vice Chancellor, Professor Ghartey Ampiah entered into a 10 year Build, Own, Operate and Transfer Agreement with KLEOS UK Ltd for the provision of information and communication technology (ICT) services at a cost of $300,000.00 per year totalling $3,000,000.00 for the contract period without seeking approval from the University Council, the Minister of Education and Public Procurement before committing the University to such financial obligation.”
The “contract signed by the Vice Chancellor was only witnessed by the Director of ICT services Dr. Regina Gyampoh-Vidogah. Consequently, the Auditor General recommended that “the Vice Chancellor should submit the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer Agreement (BOOT) with KLEOS UK Ltd to the University Council, Minister of Education and Public Procurement Authority for approval, failing which the sanctions in section 92 (1) of the Public Procurement Act shall be applied.”
According to Mrs Juliet Aboagye-Wiafe, President of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Ghana, the work of internal auditors facilitate good corporate governance and compliance. These in turn ‘provide strong inputs for organisational or business sustainability and prevent corporate scandals, fraud and failures.’
Mrs Aboagye-Wiafe reportedly said this at the IIA’s 2019 Annual National Internal Audit and Governance Conference.
In June 2019, Auditor-General Mr. Daniel Yao Domelevo also stated that it is better to prevent corruption. Therefore, making internal auditors independent is one of the control mechanisms that government can put in place to prevent corruption. He even suggested to the Presidency to consider the inclusion of the Director General of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA) in Government’s Economic Management Team to help control expenditure within certain strategic sectors. He took the view that internal auditors would provide timely information on lapses within the Public Financial Management system to enable the E. M. T. take judicious measures to address identified inefficiencies.
In spite of these authorities speaking favourably on internal auditors, Corruption Watch has come across cases from its investigations in which some internal auditors have allegedly been professionally abused and harassed for refusing to be compromised.
Countries’ response to COVID-19, their long-term development, and the meeting of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are all threatened by the “invisible infection” of corruption, the Commonwealth Secretary-General has warned.
Speaking to the annual conference of the Commonwealth Caribbean Association of Integrity Commissions and Anti-Corruption Bodies (CCAICACB), Patricia Scotland laid bare the devastating impact criminal acts such as fraud, bribery, and theft have in both financial terms and in their human cost.
In her speech to the conference she highlighted that:
https://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/commonwealth.png169299adminhttps://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CW-logo-100by80.pngadmin2020-06-19 11:44:072020-06-19 11:44:09World Must Continue To Fight The Invisible Infection Of Corruption—C’Wealth Secretary-General
Imagine this, if you will. A company is given taxpayers’ money to construct a hospital, which should provide healthcare services; or a road for your safe travel; or a school for the training of our children. What happens next? The company either fails to deliver or does a substandard job. Your response I guess will be that they should be sanctioned. Isn’t it? But guess what, the company gets away with it.
https://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/blacklisted-scaled.jpeg17062560adminhttps://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CW-logo-100by80.pngadmin2020-04-30 15:24:082020-05-13 15:03:27CWatch reflections: Non-performing and corrupt contractors need to be blacklisted.
