How government awarded Free Wi-Fi for SHSs, GES offices contract to unqualified company – Report

An investigative report by The Fourth Estate has revealed the sketchy circumstances under which the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government awarded a contract for the provision of free internet service (Wi-Fi) to Senior High Schools (SHSs) and offices of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to a private entity.

The award of the contract was in fulfilment of a 2016 manifesto promise by the governing New Patriotic Party to collaborate "with the private sector to provide free Wi-Fi coverage for senior secondary and tertiary institutions nationwide, dedicated to learning, administration, and enhancing the capacity to do research."

The private company that got the contract, Busy Internet, the investigation disclosed, was in no position to even bid for a government contract.

According to The Fourth Estate, when Busy Internet was awarded the contract, it had huge tax liabilities and hefty arrears in unpaid social security contributions, which made it impossible for it to get tax and Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) clearance certificates, two mandatory requirements for any company bidding for a government contract.

"What I know for sure is that during that time, we did not have an SSNIT clearance certificate, nor did we have a GRA tax clearance certificate," a former staff member of Busy Internet, who has intimate knowledge of the contract but asked not to be named, is quoted as having told The Fourth Estate.

The media house shared a letter from Busy Internet to SSNIT, which showed that the private company had over GH¢2 million worth of staff contributions in arrears.

The investigation also revealed that not only was the Free Wi-Fi contract awarded to a company that was unfit to apply for government projects, but it was also single-sourced. The company was not registered with the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) as a supplier, contrary to the PPA's procurement rules.

Busy Internet also won the over GH¢90 million contract without parliamentary approval, as required by Ghana's Public Financial Management Act.

The report indicated that Busy Internet got the contract just days after it was acquired by a company called Lifted Logistics, whose parent company was Aguila Holdings, which had Horpe Omotayo-Ojo as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The former Busy Internet staff member told The Fourth Estate that when Horpe Omotayo-Ojo, a Nigerian businessman, was announcing the award of the contract, he promised the staff that their jobs were safe and that every effort was going to be made to pay off Busy Internet's debts and put it on the path to profitability.

"It was good news. At the end, we were all of the conviction that the MOE [Wi-Fi] contract was going to end the woes of Busy Internet. We were sinking as a company, and salaries were not being paid."

However, the hopes of the staff were dashed, and many of them were laid off as the company started installing internet connectivity devices in senior high schools across the country.

The Fourth Estate also indicated that the Free Senior High School Coordinator, William Darkwa, explained that the Free Wi-Fi contract was awarded to Busy Internet and not MTN or Surfline Ghana Limited, which are 4G internet service providers, because they were not interested in the project.

But after winning the contract, Busy Internet contracted MTN Ghana and AirtelTigo to provide the services it had agreed with the government to provide for secondary schools and education offices across the country.

The government, through the Ministry of Education, signed a GH¢84.4 million contract with Busy Internet, which also had a monthly recurrent cost of GH¢6.4 million for internet connectivity to the schools and educational offices.

The schools and offices of the GES were getting Free Wi-Fi service, but at some point, most lost connectivity, and complaints were not addressed, raising questions about the company's qualifications.

Another issue the investigation found was that although the Ministry of Education's records submitted to parliament said they paid GH¢56 million to Lifted Logistics in 2023, a leaked report by the Economic and Organized Crime Office suggests that between December 30, 2019, and December 19, 2022, the ministry paid GH¢63.7 million to the company.

Also, the PPA, in a letter dated May 22, 2023, to the Ministry of Education, approved a request for a "change of company's name from Busy Internet to Lifted Logistics Ghana." This raised concerns among some as to why the authority would agree to substitute the name "Busy Internet" in its records for "Lifted Logistics," which only obtained a conditional ISP license in February 2024 – 10 months after the PPA approved the request for a change in the contractor's name.

The report indicated that the move seemed to be just a change of name, but it actually meant that another company was taking over the project."

Read the full story published on June 10, 2024, by thefourthestategh.com

BAI/ ADG

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