General News of Friday, 1 June 2018

Source: kasapafmonline.com

KelniGVG deal: I’ve tamed my voice because government has started consulting – Cudjoe

Franklin Cudjoe, Founding President of think tank IMANI Africa Franklin Cudjoe, Founding President of think tank IMANI Africa

President of Policy Think tank, IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe has disclosed officials of the government have clandestinely engaged him for fruitful talks over controversial KelniGVG contract.

This according to him, explains for the reason why he’s decided to tame his voice on the saga and also restrain himself from further response to what he describes as the Finance Minister’s “uninformed comment” about the supposed ‘noise ‘ over the deal.

“How I wished people will stop asking me to respond to the Finance Minister’s uniformed comment about the ‘noise ‘ over GVG. I will only say this. It is important to know that those who still think they are fighting IMANI on behalf of party or personalities involved in this saga, should know that their superiors have started consulting,” he wrote on his Facebook page a while ago.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta has said there is too much noise surrounding the $178 million deal with Kelni GVG signed by the National Communications Authority (NCA).

Speaking at the MTN Ghana Initial Public Offering (IPO) launch on Tuesday May 29, Mr Ofori-Atta said: “…There’s a whole lot of noise about some platform services going on and I think people have also brought up the issue of data protection. These are all things that we can find cures to without getting political and I think it is incumbent on the telcos to be able to provide solutions to some of the issues of data protection.”

Reacting to the Minister’s comment on the deal, Cudjoe said their resolve to slow down their fully cocked advocacy is specifically in good faith insisting “we’re talking and hope the talking ends in outcomes that will be good for Ghana. We will leave it at that for now.”

President of Imani Franklin Cudjoe has been one of the leading voices in the KelniGVG contract , who has constantly condemned the revenue assurance deal which is meant to monitor revenue in the telcos industry.



Although the government insists the deal saves the country $1.1 million a month, Mr Cudjoe wonders why the state has been paying the firm $1.5 million per month since January for “no work done”.

For him, the deal is “needless” and a rip-off which ought to be terminated.