The Minority in Parliament has questioned government’s decision to push through the UNIPASS deal, despite the clear breaches of the Public Procurement Act and the lack of ‘value for money’ brought to its attention by various think-tanks and civil society organisations.
In a press conference addressed by Mr. Yusif Sulemana, Deputy Ranking Member on the Trade, Industry and Tourism Committee of the House on Friday, the Minority said the sole-sourced contract signed between the Trade and Industry Ministry and Ghana Link/CUPIA did not follow due process and is therefore “illegal” and “void”.
“None of the six conditions under which sole-sourcing is allowed, was occasioned in 2017 to trigger Sections 40 and 41 of ACT 663,” adding that “a contract that is illegally procured is void and so they [Ghana Link/UNIPASS] enter into this contract at their own risk,” Mr. Sulemana said.
He further queried the propriety of handing over the country’s National Single Window System to Ghana Link and its partners Customs UNIPASS International Agency (CUPIA) of South Korea, at the expense of existing vendors—Ghana Community Network Services Limited and West Blue Consulting.
“As we speak, until they were brought on board in 2017—after which they suspended operations for eight good months—the existing National Single Window system [operated by GCNet & WestBlue] has been running– so it is not as if there is something urgent for which we have to bring them on board. Even if we needed a new system, why are you using sole sourcing?”
He said there is no justification for government to seek to replace competent, internationally recognised, indigenous home-grown companies and systems with foreign systems, particularly in this era of self-sufficiency and Ghana Beyond Aid.
High UNIPASS Contract Fees
The Minority further questioned why government will “replace a cheaper system that is delivering its mandate with a more expensive one that is unproven to be superior?”
“As noted earlier, the combined fees paid to GCNET and West Blue for their services is 0.54% of FOB. With this Ghana Link/UNIPASS deal, government of Ghana has decided, for whatever reason, to pay 0.75% of FOB. This was after granting Ghana Link duty- and tax-free importation of their inputs (which GCNET and West Blue do not enjoy).
“Our question to President Akufo-Addo is; what specific addition is Ghana Link/UNIPASS bringing on to warrant the extra 0.21% of FOB? Why is government providing Ghana Link with inordinately higher fees for a service that is being provided at a lower cost? Ghanaians want to know why they will be paying more for this unproven system.”
Contract Termination
Another issue raised by the Minority is the conditions under which their [UNIPASS] contract can be terminated.
“Our government has committed that if it had to unilaterally abrogate or it materially breaches the contract with Ghana Link/UNIPASS, Ghana will pay graduated fees of US$93 million to US$12 million in the first to the tenth year, to the company.
“The strange and worrying issue about these clauses is that Ghana is committing to pay US$93 million for terminating a contract whose total value over the 10 years is US$40 million.
“What would have been logical will be to pay Ghana Link/UNIPASS the remaining value of their contract in the event of a unilateral termination of the contract by Ghana. If it is the contention of government that this is not the logical thing to do, then on what basis are they in a letter signed by Senior Minister, Hon. Yaw Osafo-Maafo proposing to pay GCNET the value of the unspent term of their contract?”
