Parliament probes “rotten” Subah deal

The Finance Committee of Parliament has requested the Minister of Finance, Mr. Seth Terkper, to furnish it with further and better particulars detailing the business agreement between an IT firm, Subah Infosolutions Limited, and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), to enable it have a better understanding of the contract.

The controversial agreement between the two entities, according to the committee, was not known to Parliament, hence its request for the details.

A Ranking Member of the committee, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Tafo, dropped the hint yesterday in his submission to the motion for the House to approve the sum of GH¢530,444,425 for the Ghana Revenue Authority for the year ending December 31, 2014.

In 2010, the GRA, a state institution charged with the responsibility of collecting taxes, contracted Subah Infosolutions Limited in a deal worth US$100 million per year.

Per the dictates of the agreement, Subah was charged with the responsibility of electronically monitoring revenue generated by the telecommunication companies, to enable the GRA calculate and collect the right taxes from the companies.

The contract was awarded, based on the Communications Service Act (CST), which was passed in 2007, mandating the government to monitor revenue generated by the telecom companies.

Within three years, the GRA, according to available documentations, paid almost GH¢144 million to Subah Infosolutions Limited, for absolutely no work done.

On the contrary, the GRA boss, George Blankson, in response to the payments to Subah, said his outfit only paid GH¢75 million to the IT firm, between 2010 and August 2012.

His response attracted lots of criticisms from a cross section of the general public, including civil society organisations, with some calling for his immediate resignation from office.

Dr. Akoto Osei, commenting further on the issue, said Mr. Terkper had agreed to furnish the House with the necessary documentation, to enable them understand the transaction between the GRA and Subah.

“Mr. Speaker, the Finance Minister has assured us that at the appropriate time, he would furnish us with the details of the Subah and GRA issue,” he noted.

Touching on the budget allocation to the GRA, he said it was about a hundred million cedis increment from the previous year, and, therefore, suggested that there was no need for the revenue agency to defer some of its mandate to Suba Infosolutions Limited.

“The budget for the GRA has been increased by almost a hundred million cedis. In that sense, there is no need for them to engage any external agency to do the work,” he charged.

Contributing to the motion, the MP for New Juaben, Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah, said the amount given to the GRA was in order, since it would help it perform its duties efficiently.

He said in 2013, the GRA had projected to collect a total of GH¢11 billion revenue, but underperformed and collected GH¢9 billion.

To him, it was rather unfortunate that the government thinks the only way to increase revenue was by introducing new taxes, while the loopholes and other leakages in revenue generation were unsolved.

“Many companies owe GRA, but do not pay, and I think GRA should be strengthened to carry out their mandate properly. But the amount allocated GRA is a step in the right direction,” he suggested.

Meanwhile, following the approval of the sum of GH¢530,444,425 to the GRA, the House also approved GH¢224,246,020 to the Ministry of Finance, GH¢279,656,034 to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, and GH¢3,483,805 to the Public Services Commission for the 2014 financial year.