Government must avoid Looming judgment debt - Financial Consultant

Mr. Kudzo Akpabley, a Financial Consultant on Tuesday alerted government to as a matter of urgency re-examine the contract between Bankswitch Ghana Limited (BGL) and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) which was abrogated in 2010.

He said currently GLC had filed a claim of GH?816 million at the International Court of Arbitration for the abrogation of their contract which they entered into with MOFEP in 2007 for the provision of a Customs Valuation Software to assist CEPS in revenue collection.

Mr. Akpabley was speaking at a press conference in Accra to draw both the government’s and the public’s attention to a looming judgment debt which he said the government must take steps to avoid.

He explained that in 2000, the Ministry of Trade and Industry on behalf of the government of Ghana and Ghana Community Network Service Limited (G-CNET) signed an agreement for the company to fully automate the CEPS clearing system and network with its stakeholders of importers, clearing agents and Ministries.

He said in 2007, the government through MOFEP also signed another agreement with Bankswitch for the implementation of a documentation and valuation system to support Ghana’s customs authorities in levying import taxes.

Mr. Akpabley said G-CNET system replaced the then existing ASYCUDA mechanism, which involved a lot of manual work which was cumbersome.

He said the G-CNET was designed to computerize the processing of imports, exports, payment of duties and taxes as well as prevent fraud, protect government revenue and increase transparency.

Mr. Akpabley also alleged that one Elliot Ansah who was then working at the G-CNET deleted vital data from the system from 2006 to 2010 which caused the country to lose a lot in terms of revenue mobilization.

He said the person whose action had caused the nation to lose millions of dollars in revenue was assisted by politicians to leave the country for the United Kingdom in 2010 with no attempt being made for Interpol to arrest him.**