Mahama Ayariga petitions OSP to probe BoG Governor, new headquarters contractor et al

The Member of Parliament for Bawku Central Constituency, Mahama Ayariga, has petitioned the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to immediately probe alleged corruption in the procurement of the Bank of Ghana’s new head office.

The lawmaker says the suspects in the case are the Governor and his two Deputy Governors.

In a letter to the OSP on Monday, October 30, Mr Ayariga also asked that the board members of the central bank and the contractor for the project should also be investigated.

“I hereby make a formal complaint to your office to investigate what I believe to be a case of corruption in the procurement of the new headquarters building of the Bank of Ghana at Ridge in Accra.

“The suspects in this case include the Governor and Deputy Governors of the Bank of Ghana, namely: (1) Dr Addisson…Governor, (2) … Deputy Governor (3) … Deputy Governor.

“The Members of the Board of Directors should also be investigated. The other suspect is the Chief Executive Officer of Messrs. Goldkey Properties Ltd who are the contractors. The project consultants supervising the work should also be investigated.”

The former Youth and Sports Minister also added that the BoG Governor has failed to explain to him why the price of the project escalated from USD121,807,8517.94 to USD222,799,760.55.

“In spite of a written request to the Governor of the Bank of Ghana under the Right to Information Act, the Governor and his team have not been able to explain to me how there was a price escalation from USD121,807,8517.94 to USD222,799,760.55 (about 84%) when the scope of work increased from 73,000 square meters to about 107,737 square meters (36.9%).”

In his view, the OSP has the power to investigate the matter and ensure that state funds are not misused for the benefit a “selected few”.

“When the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament (MP) led a public demonstration to demand the accountability of the Governor and his Deputy Governors, the Governor called the MPs all sorts of names and asked them to use institutional mechanisms to hold him accountable. I believe the Office of Special Prosecutor has jurisdiction to investigate all cases of suspected ‘corruption and corruption-related offences’ by public officers and private persons working with public officials under section 2(a) and 79 of The Office of Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959).”

The Minority in Parliament has called out the Governor of the central bank and his deputies after the lender of last resort reported a GH¢60.8 billion loss for 2022.

The Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has questioned why Dr Ernest Addison is spending $250 million to build a new head office for the central bank at a time when the Bank is in financial difficulties.

He accused the BoG Governor of printing money to finance this project.

The NDC MPs staged a demonstration on Tuesday, October 3, demanding his resignation but Dr Ernest Addison remains steadfast in his quest to stay in office as he described the demonstration as unnecessary.

Source: 3news