GRA bought 40 generators, abandoned them in a warehouse - Sam George alleges

The Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam George, has made some allegations against the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), accusing them of corruption and negligence.

He claimed that the GRA had purchased over 40 generators with taxpayers money and left them to rot in a warehouse for over two years.

Speaking on Ekosiisen on Asempa FM on Monday, February 12, 2024, he noted that beyond the Commissioner General Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, working without a contract despite going past his retirement age, there are other corrupt practices that are yet to be uncovered.

“The past few weeks, the kind of information I have gotten about the GRA, is amazing. They have bought over forty generators without tax and for two years, they have abandoned the generators at a warehouse in the North Industrial area at the mercy of the weather.

"They claimed they were buying generators for all their main offices across the country. Already if you look at the generators and their prices you will see that they have been inflated.

"They went for an invoice from a generator company here in Ghana and inflated the prices. If the invoice stated about GH¢100,000 then they inflate it to about GH¢160,000 and they bought over 40- 60 of those generators,” he stated.

“... They asked the supplier to deliver them to a warehouse at North Industrial (Area). It's been there at the mercy of the sun and rain for the past two and half years and nobody has moved those generators. It is as though they have forgotten they have bought some generators somewhere,” he added.

The Ningo-Prampram MP also stated that even though the government claims it is fighting ghost names with digitalisation, he [Sam George] has been able to catch a ghost at the Public Account Committee (PAC), referring to the GRA commissioner, who he said was still earning a salary without a contract.

He further alleged that the GRA commissioner, Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, was busy signing what he describes as very funny contracts with private companies, such as SML and Axon, without due diligence and transparency.

“If the government said they are using digitisation to clear ghost names, I caught a ghost at the Public Account Committee (PAC). The way the public service and Controller and Accountant General works, without a contract, your name cannot be inserted in the system. So, for the period of time, the commissioner of GRA is still earning a salary. Those were the critical issues I was trying to get across.

“So, how can you keep your chief revenue mobiliser at post for more than two years after their retirement age without a contract. In all of these periods, he is busying signing very funny contracts; SML, trying to sign a new contract with a Ghanaian company Axon and a whole lot,” he added.

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