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General News of Sunday, 27 May 2018

Source: 3news.com

We need commission of inquiry to go into GVG deal – Lawyer

Martin Kpebu, Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu, Private legal practitioner

President Nana Akufo-Addo has been urged to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate and clarify the hullabaloo surrounding the controversial Kelni GVG deal.

The contract between the Ministry of Communications and Kelni GVG would enable the latter to develop and implement a common platform for traffic monitoring, revenue assurance, mobile money monitoring and fraud management.

The deal has hugely been criticised by civil society groups led by policy think tank IMANI-Ghana with support from the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) and the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) who want the contract abrogated.

They argued that the deal would cost the state about 189 million dollars, contradicting claims by the ministry that the deal is worth 89 million dollars.

The ministry has rejected claims that there is no value for money and insisted that it would not be cancelled.

In the face of the entrenched positions taken by both the ministry and the civil society groups, “I strongly advocate that let’s have a commission of inquiry into this matter”, private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu told TV3’s NewDay on Saturday.

“To be very candid, it is difficult to tell who is right and who is wrong, so in such a matter, the best is to have a commission of inquiry so that both sides would lay all the papers bare, because when we have full disclosure then we can better appreciate the case, can better make suggestions for reform,” he said.

He is confident the commission would be able to at least name and shame in its work.



Ranking Member on the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament and Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini is shocked Kelni GVG would remain silent when its reputation is at stake.

“We as Ghanaians are saying that this company…has shortchanged the people of Ghana. As a good corporate citizen, the practice is, the company would quickly come out to assure us that they have gone through the process…

“Everywhere, where a company has been accused, the company will come out…if it has a reputation to protect, the company would act independent of government.”

The issue has created huge public interest, prompting the Speaker of Parliament to summon the Minister of Communications Ursula Owusu-Ekuful to clarify issues to the house.