Subah, Afriwave contracts terminated – Communications Ministry

The Ministry of Communications has disclosed that the contracts of both Subah and Afriwave have been terminated.

The disclosure comes in the wake of the controversy surrounding the new contract with KelniGVG to deal with revenue losses and simbox fraud in the telcos.

In a statement, the Ministry justified the award of the contract to the new firm.

“Due to the lack of clarity regarding the implementation of the law on the establishment of a common platform, the NPP administration held a stakeholders forum on Tuesday, 21st February, 2017 chaired by the Senior Minister. The Ministers of Finance and Communications were both present in addition to relevant stakeholders including all mobile operators, Subah and Afriwave. After all the presentations, it became clear there was duplication of efforts by both Subah and Afriwave while none of them was providing the real-time traffic monitoring solution required for effective revenue assurance in this sector. They both depended on Call Detail Records {CDRs} provided by the various mobile operators, information which was freely available to the NCA.

‘The government of Ghana was also paying both entities essentially for no work done. The outcome of the consultation process was for the NCA to amend the Interconnect Clearinghouse (ICH) Licence to restrict them to clearing hose operations and for GRA to abrogate the contract with Subah. This would pave way for the establishment of the common platform in accordance with the law for proper revenue assurance.

“A new procurement process was launched, sanctioned by the MoC and MoF, in accordance with the law, to select a suitable vendor to meet the requirements defined by the NCA and GRA and in December 2017, the contract was awarded to a Ghanaian entity, duly registered under the laws of the Republic of Ghana called KelniGVG Limited. KelniGVG was initially incorporated in October 1995. The award was made in full compliance with the relevant laws in Ghana, unlike the contracts awarded to both Subah and Afriwave, a statement by the sector Ministry and signed by the Minister, Ursula Owusu Ekuful said.

The President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe is among the leading voices against the award of the new contract with KelniGVG.

Speaking on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.5 FM, Mr Franklin Cudjoe reiterated the $89 million contract signed in 2017 is a careless duplication of operations and a needless drain on the national kitty.

Cudjoe earlier insisted it’s unlikely for them to retreat on the matter, as they’re[IMANI] readying to release more damning aspects of that contract to expose the Ministry.