Special Prosecutor questions Jubilee House official and others over NDA scandal

The Office of the Special prosecutor has invited the Coordinator for Special Initiatives at the Jubilee House and officials of the Northern Development Authority (NDA) for questioning over NDA’s contract with A&Qs Consortium. The OSP also questioned officials of the company.

The questioning is in respect of a contract awarded by the NDA to A&Qs Consortium for consultancy services under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP), “especially in respect of the quantum of contract sum.” The update is contained in a release sighted by The Fourth Estate.

The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, also directed the Controller and Accountant-General to immediately freeze payment arising from the said contract.

Mr. Agyebeng further invited the Coordinator for Special Initiatives at the Jubilee House and several serving officers including the Chief Executive and relevant past officers of the NDA and officers of A&Qs Consortium for questioning. Those questioned, according to the press release, have been granted bail.

Background

On January 11, 2022, the former CEO of the Northern Development Authority, Dr. Sulemana Anamzoya, petitioned the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, over a fraudulent deal that had been perpetuated in his name.

According to Dr. Anamzoya, his successor, Sumaila Abdul Rahman, falsified figures and forged his (Dr. Anamzoya) signature in a contract.

“Quite recently, my attention has been drawn to a contract purportedly signed by me whiles I was in office as Ag. Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Development Authority (NDA), awarding a Consultancy Service contract to A&Q’s Consortium (A&Q’s) in the sum of ¢10,400,000 under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP),” parts of his two paged petition, which was copied to President Akufo Addo read.

Dr. Anamzoya agreed that he awarded a contract to A&Qs Consultancy during his tenure, but he denied the contract sum being GHC10,400,000. Dr. Anamzoya said the only contract he awarded to A&Q’s firm while in office was worth GHC 5,720,000.

The former CEO also noted that the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) approved NDA to use single-source procurement to recruit various consultancy services to implement the IPEP programme on January 16, 2020.

“The PPA approval letter provided details of the appointment, the proposed consultants, the number of constituencies per region for each consultant, and the estimated cost per consultant (please find enclosed PPA’s approval letter).”

“On January 28, 2020, with [the] PPA approval, I signed contracts awarding the consultancy services contract to the five consultants who were approved by the PPA,” he stated in the petition.

With this approval, Dr Anamzoya said he engaged A&Qs to provide Consultancy Supervision for 11 constituencies in the Upper West Region at an estimated cost of ¢5,720,000.

Yet, Dr. Anamzoya would later find out that the contract sum had ballooned from GHC 5.7 million to GHC 10.4 million.

“Even though the award letter I signed has an amount of ¢5,720,000, I have sighted a doctored version of the award letter which indicates that I purportedly signed a Consultancy Supervision Contract to A&Q’s under the IPEP at the cost of ¢10,400,000 which I vehemently deny as having emanated from me (please find attached the doctored contract document).”

“As evidenced by the doctored contract attached, my signature was transposed on a contract (with a sum of ¢10,400,000), whose numbering does not tally with the remaining pages of the contract.”

Dr. Anamzoya, in his bid to clear his name, told the Chief of Staff and the President, “Whatever the perpetrators’ intent might be, this matter needs urgent attention to expose the perpetrators and punishment meted out to them, but more importantly to clear me of any wrongdoing.”

The Special prosecutor began investigations into the matter when the contents of the letter became public.

Actions of the Special Prosecutor

The Special Prosecutor, on June 23, 2022, wrote to Mr. Sumaila Abdul-Rahman, the current CEO of the NDA.

In that letter, the Special Prosecutor directed the NDA to produce all documents regarding the contract between the Authority and A&Qs Consortium by close of business July 7, 2022.

The Special Prosecutor says all persons deemed culpable for corruption and corruption-related offences will be charged and prosecuted.