$89m Kelni GVG deal: Ursula snubs Parliament’s Communications Committee

Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu Ekuful Tuesday refused to honour a summon by Parliament’s Select Committee on Communications.

Parliament last week subpoenaed her over the controversial $89 million Kelni GVG contract with the Government of Ghana.

The contract has become a subject of controversy between policy think-tank IMANI Africa and the ministry with the former arguing it was needless and expensive.

The second deputy Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin issued the directive upon requests from some MPs for details of the contract.

Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful, however, snubbed the Select Committee’s beckon, citing another summon by the Speaker for her to appear before the plenary over the same matter.

Kelni GVG, a Haitian originated company, was awarded a contract by the government for design, development and implementation of a common platform for traffic monitoring, revenue assurance, and mobile money monitoring and fraud management—a service already being rendered by Afriwave and Subah Info Solution.

IMANI has constantly questioned the rationale behind the new contract with Kelni GVG, describing it as wasteful and aimed at milking the public purse.

In a reply, however, the Communication Ministry dismissed IMANI’s criticism of the new contract as “unreasonable.”

According to the ministry, the scope of execution is different from Afriwave’s and Subah Info Solution’s.