Contract awarded Graham should be reviewed - Halifax Ansah Addo

Editor-In-Chief of the Publisher newspaper, Halifax Ansah Addo has called for a review of the 15 years contract awarded Mr. Kojo Graham, former Chairman for the Tendering Committee and Board Member for the National Lotteries Authority (NLA).

Speaking to Kwame Tutu on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm, h said the contract smacks a conflict of interest because at the time he was awarded the contract, he will still holding the key positions including a legal advisor to the NLA.

He said you do not need to be a lawyer to know that this was wrong because he had information other bidders did not have which helped him to win the contract under his LOTS Services.

An allegation by a group calling itself the Concerned Voters Movement, accused him of awarding contracts of the NLA to his own company, LOTS Services to the tune of GH¢89 million Ghana cedis between 2013 and 2017, while serving as an external lawyer for the NLA and at the same time, the Chairman of the entity Tender Committee of the NLA.

However, lawyer Graham has disputed the claims insisting that there was no conflict of interest in the award of the contract. According to him, the decision to hire the services of his private company was not a rubber stamp decision by him, but was decided by the entire board together with the procurement authority.

It is alleged that Mr. Kojo Graham gave a bribe of $60,000 to the new Director–General of the NLA, after learning of the latter and the new NLA board’s plan to be more stringent in payments to LOTS services.

But according to Mr. Graham, the money was a personal loan which he gave on “humanitarian grounds” to the new Director General.

On the issue of the loan, Halifax Ansah Addo said on the grounds of principle, the NLA boss should not have accepted the ‘personal loan’.

He said although NLA boss took the loan, that has not influenced his work rather, it has made the NLA generate more resources to the tune of GHc30 million.

He added the company of Graham was paid over GHc23 million, in 2014 his company was paid well over GHc19 million and in 2013 his company was paid over GHc11 million.

However, in 2017, his company was paid GHc8 million and so ‘’it will be difficult to support the school of argument that the loan from Graham to Osei-Ameyaw influenced the latter.