Abuga Pele, the former National Coordinator of the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Agency (GYEEDA), was sentenced alongside the Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill International Group, Philip Assibit, to a combined jail-term of 18 years on various counts, including willfully causing financial loss to the state.

[contextly_sidebar id=”q3ZiiK8QdvQcAWXG72W3mIHsssiJPQPm”]In the scandal that hit the now Youth Employment Agency (YEA), some companies including Zoomlion Ghana Limited, RLG, Asongtaba Cottage Industry Limited and Better Ghana Management Services Limited, among others were contracted to render services under various modules for the GYEEDA programme.

It subsequently emerged that monies were paid to these companies who were awarded the contracts through sole sourcing for no work done.

Speaking on Citi FM’s News Analysis Programme, The Big Issue, Mr. Ayariga said the awarding of all contracts through competitive bidding processes will tackle the canker associated with sole sourcing.

“President Akufo Addo is against sole sourcing. He campaigned against sole sourcing but reducing sole sourcing is not enough. I think we should abolish it entirely,” he indicated.

Ayariga threatens suit

Mr. Ayariga, on the show, also indicated that he will next week start a chain of events that may result in an injunction at the Supreme Court against the operations of a number of state agencies.

Mr. Ayariga has said he will move against every state agency exercising “unfettered discretionary power without clear non-discriminatory non-arbitrary regulations approved by Parliament governing the exercises of their discretionary power.”

He asserted that all these agencies must provide a road map to close all these loopholes or face being dragged to the Supreme Court.

“I shall in the coming week write to each and every agency of government concerned and demand that the regulations be brought to Parliament within 30 days otherwise I will proceed to the Supreme Court to seek an injunction against all that they are doing in violates of the law.”

‘Jail-term’

Abuga Pele was handed a four and six-year sentence which will run concurrently, meaning he will spend six years behind bars.

Assibit, on the other hand, got sentences of 12 and four years on different counts, also to run concurrently, meaning he will be in jail for twelve years.

The court also ordered the state to recover all assets and money belonging to the state from the convicts.

Delivering her judgment, Justice Efia Serwaa Botwe said the prosecution succeeded in proving their case by producing enough evidence.

She also added that the defence and the accused person, on whom a lot burden of proof was laid, failed to prove their innocence in the matter.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post Ayariga wants sole sourcing scrapped after Pele, Assibit’s incarceration appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Minister at the National Policy Summit on Tuesday said though the Mahama administration failed to ensure competitive bidding in awarding power contracts, the NPP administration will take an entirely different approach to ensure value for money.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ONsUEG71BkzIo9gc8d7kIgURw7Icf7Ub”]“We know what happened when we went into the power crisis from 2012 and in the indecent haste that followed, we were procuring emergency power left, right and centre and therefore the guidelines or the proper shopping methodologies that ought to have followed were not. These things are best done on competitive tender.

“We had an open book in terms of the power purchase agreement so the supplier then came and said we will negotiate this price and PURC gave it a blessing and so for the same commodity; electricity, one producer is selling to us at 10.14 cents a kilowatt tab, another is selling at 19 cents a kilowatt tab, some are proposing 22 cents a kilowatt tab for the same commodity, electricity. In our emergency, our first respondents gave us anything and we had to take it that is why going forward all power will be procured on competitive basis…”

The Minister also revealed that power generators will be required to carry their own “fuel risk” and reduce the price at which government purchases power.

“We propose that power generators carry their own fuel risk. We also propose that we cap the price at which we will buy power from anybody. We are looking at 10 cents. If you can provide ten cents we buy from you. If not sorry. Electricity is a commodity and it has to be treated as a commodity.”

The Mahama administration has come under intense criticism for securing power deals believed not to be in the best interest of the country.

The NPP administration in a bid to ensure value for money tasked a 17-member committee to review of one of those projects, Ameri power deal.

Future power deals will be strategised

The Minister, at the same event, indicated that government will strategise future power deals.

He argued that most of the agreements with Independent Power Producers failed to fully address the energy needs of the country.

He therefore pledged to employ some strategic policies to guarantee the efficient generation and distribution of power across the country.

“We will also use standardized procedures and documentation so that all the liquidity and security documentation that comes with power procurement will be standardized. Investor A faces the same standard document as investor B,” the Minister added.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post We’ll procure power on competitive basis – Boakye Agyarko appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.