8 scandals that have hit Akufo-Addo's government

The growing trend of scandals that hit political administrations in Ghana appears to have come to stay.

Year in, year out, accusations of bribery and corruption are flung far and wide by politicians, their opponents, and the neutrals who observe both sides and pass judgments.

The Akufo-Addo administration, after assuming office in January 2017, has had its share of accusations of financial misappropriation.

YEN.com.gh has sampled eight of such high profile scandals that have come to the attention of Ghanaians since the New Patriotic Party (NPP) won the 2016 elections:

1. Contracts for Sale:

The suspended Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), A.B Adjei, has been reported to the Commission on Human Rights AND Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Office of the Special Prosecutor, after the release of a documentary titled Contracts for Sale.

President Akufo-Addo, YEN.com.gh has learnt, has tasked the deputy CEO, Frank Mante, to act as CEO as investigations continue.

2. PDS scandal:

The minority side in Parliament has called for a thorough investigation of what has come to be referred to as the PDS scandal.

This follows the abrogation of the contract between Ghana and the Power Distribution Service with regard to the management of power supply in the country owing to allegations of financial misappropriation.

3. Cash-for-seat scandal:

In early 2018, the Ministry of Trade and Industry was in the news for the wrong reason after allegations of sale of seats became public.

Expatriates reportedly colluded with the Millennium Excellence Foundation (MEF) to sell seats close to that of the president for between $25,000 and $100,000.

4. Kelni GVG scandal:

Imani Ghana, in June 2018, disclosed that the communications ministry had engaged the services of a Haitian company, Kelni GVG, to monitor the revenue streams of telecommunications companies in Ghana.

The deal was branded as a waste of Ghana’s resources as previous agreements signed by a previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.

5. Commonwealth Visa Scandal:

In April 2018, Australian officials arrested over 50 Ghanaians who participated in the Commonwealth games as journalists.

Per investigations, it was established that they were not there for media duties but were part of a visa racketeering ring.

6. Ghana Maritime Authority scandal:

Former director-general of the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), Kwame Owusu was accused by political activist, Kwame Asare Obeng, of financial misappropriation.

The documents revealed that Owusu allegedly spent GH¢135,000 on a staff end-of-year party in 2017.

7. BOST GH15m contaminated fuel scandal:

The BOST scandal resulted in the loss of about GHC15 million revenue after the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) sold contaminated fuel to non-existing oil companies such as Movenpinna Energy and ZUPOIL.

8. Ameri scandal:

The Ameri deal was signed by an NDC administration at the height of the power outages that rocked Ghana from 2014 onwards.

The then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) declared the deal as fraudulent and vowed to cancel if they win power in 2016.

The NPP, however, failed to abrogate the contract after assumption of office but instead attempted to renegotiate it.

This led to the dismissal of the then energy minister, Boakye Agyarko, after it became clear that Ghana had to pay more than the initial amount for the deal.

In other news, six Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) officers have been honoured for rejecting GHC25,000 offered by smugglers.

The smugglers attempted to divert 1950 bags of fertilizers intended for the Planting for Food and Jobs programme.

They planned to transport the fertilizers via Fielmon, an unapproved route at the border between Ghana and Burkina Faso in the Upper West region.