Mobile Money interoperability initiative began under Mahama - Sammy Gyamfi

The National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has asserted that the Mobile Money interoperability initiative commenced in 2016, under former President John Dramani Mahama's leadership.

Sammy Gyamfi alleged that during the NDC/Mahama administration in 2016, a contract was awarded to SIBTON, by the Bank of Ghana, for this purpose.

Responding to the recent address by the 2024 NPP flagbearer at UPSA, the NDC executive urged Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to provide truthful information to Ghanaians.

During his public address on Wednesday, February 7, Dr. Bawumia lauded Ghana's rapid growth in the mobile money market in Africa, attributing this achievement to the Akufo-Addo government's investments in the sector.

However, Sammy Gyamfi has rebutted Dr. Bawumia's statements in a press release, accusing the vice president of terminating a contract awarded by the NDC and subsequently awarding it to his associates.

Sammy Gyamfi stated, “On the contrary, the first MOMO interoperability system contract was awarded to a company known as SIBTON by the Bank of Ghana in 2016 under the visionary NDC/Mahama government. Bawumia only came to cancel this Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract under false pretenses and awarded a new contract to his crony company.

"The claim by Bawumia that the SIBTON contract was inflated by GHS4.6 billion is a lie. It was a Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) project. Government was not going to spend a pesewa on it. Rather, the company was going to charge the normal user fees which was projected to be GHS4.6 billion over a 15-year period as their gross revenue, inclusive of their setup and operating cost.

"Even before this BOT interoperability project, Ghanaians could send MOMO across networks through the TOKEN system that the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlements System (GhIPSS) Limited had provided. Remember the TOKEN MOMO SYSTEM? Clearly, even before this government took office, MOMO interoperability had been long conceived and initiated. A contract had been signed to that effect. Bawumia should stop the lies,” he concluded.

NAY/AE