TMA executive committee refutes alleged contracts awards

Fourteen out of the 28 members of the Executive Committee of the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) on Monday denied that the assembly had ever instituted a three-man committee to investigate an alleged award of contracts by Mr Samuel Evans Ashong Narh, Tema Municipal Chief Executive.

At a press conference held to refute the allegations, Mr Albert Boakye Okyere, Chairman of the Security and Justice Sub-Committee, said the assembly had not received any report from the Finance and Administrative Sub-Committee of the assembly mandating it to investigate any award of contract.

Flanked by others described as "Concerned Executive Committee Members", Mr Okyere, who is also the chairman of the Concerned Executive Members, said ordinarily, the Finance and Administration Sub-Committee should give approval to any recommendations of reports but this was not done.

He said the three-man committee was set up by the members themselves without the knowledge of the Executive Committee and ignored the Local Government Act 462 section 25, sub-section two, which demanded that recommendations of reports be submitted to the Executive Committee and then to the general assembly.

However, after their investigations, they rather divulged the report to the press "because the publishers had a hidden agenda". Mr Okyere said that the alleged contract was rectified by the tender board, laid it before the Executive Committee, which endorsed it at a meeting held on the 14 May and 15 May 2002.

Mr Samuel Evans Ashong Narh, Tema Municipal Chief Executive, Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammed Hussieni, Co-ordinating Director and Mr Samuel Aryee, Financial Officer have been accused of awarding contracts for the fumigation of the final refuse dump at Kpone and computerised system for billing of property rates to the tune of 1.2 billion cedis without passing through the tender board and other laid down procedures.

Following continuous media reports, the Minority in Parliament called for the interdiction of the three officials as well as Mr Leslly Benjamin, Sanitation Officer. The Minority members also said that another committee set up by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) to investigate the same issue was contradictory since a committee had already worked on the issue.

Mr Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, explained that the three-man committee failed to give hearing to the principal characters of the matter thus making it incomplete.