The Member of Parliament for New Juaben South, Michael Okyere Baafi, has launched a blistering attack on the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority over what he describes as a “carefully orchestrated scam” disguised as a digital transformation initiative.

Speaking exclusively to GhanaWeb, the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Trade and Industry Committee accused the Authority of recklessly awarding a high-value contract to an obscure foreign entity with no demonstrable technical pedigree.

According to him, the contract—purportedly for the development of an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven smart revenue collection system—has all the hallmarks of a conduit for siphoning billions of cedis from the public purse.

At the centre of the controversy is a little-known firm identified as Truedare, an Israeli-owned company registered in Cyprus as recently as December 2024.

Hon. Okyere Baafi asserts that due diligence checks raise serious red flags about the firm’s competence, credibility, and capacity to execute such a highly specialised and mission-critical project.

“This is not just procurement negligence; this is a blatant setup to rip off the Ghanaian taxpayer,” he fumed.

The MP revealed that available documentation indicates the company has no track record in deploying complex AI systems or undertaking projects of similar scale and sophistication.

He further stressed that Truedare lacks any known expertise in Artificial Intelligence, custom technology development, or trade systems architecture—core competencies required for delivering a smart revenue collection platform of this magnitude.

Instead, the company is reportedly engaged in general trading and asset management—fields far removed from the technical depth required for a national revenue digitisation architecture.

“To entrust a sensitive, high-stakes national assignment to a company incorporated barely months ago, with zero delivery history and no technical grounding in AI or advanced systems, is nothing short of scandalous,” he stressed.

Even more troubling, according to Hon. Okyere Baafi, is the procurement process—or lack thereof.

He alleges that the contract was awarded through sole sourcing, completely bypassing competitive bidding mechanisms that ensure transparency, value for money, and technical competence.

He described the move as a direct betrayal of public trust, particularly by a government that had previously positioned itself as a staunch opponent of sole sourcing, pledging to restrict its use to only the most exceptional circumstances.

“What we are witnessing is a dangerous normalisation of opaque procurement practices.

Sole sourcing has now become the default, not the exception—and that is deeply alarming,” he added.

Hon. Okyere Baafi has therefore called for an immediate halt to the contract, a full-scale independent investigation, and accountability for all officials involved in what he insists is a “grand scheme designed to bleed the state.”

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