{"id":378884,"date":"2017-11-30T10:55:28","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T10:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=378884"},"modified":"2017-11-30T11:15:04","modified_gmt":"2017-11-30T11:15:04","slug":"prof-aryeetey-denies-fraud-claims-in-64m-ug-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/11\/prof-aryeetey-denies-fraud-claims-in-64m-ug-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Prof. Aryeetey denies fraud claims in $64m UG deal"},"content":{"rendered":"
Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, has dismissed some media reports suggesting that the institution signed a $64 million agreement with a company, Africa Integras, without doing due diligence under his tenure.<\/p>\n
Professor Aryeetey rubbished these claims at a press conference on Wednesday, explaining that the University of Ghana had gone through all the right procedures before signing the agreement with the company.<\/p>\n
The University, back in 2015, entered into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with Africa Integras to invest US$64 million in the construction of 1,000 new students\u2019 hostel beds for undergraduate and post-graduate students on the Legon campus.<\/p>\n
The project was structured as a 25-year Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract.<\/p>\n
Recent media reports by The Chronicle and The Informer Newspapers, have raised questions about the deal, \u00a0particularly relating to the overall cost to the University.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\ufffc\ufffcHowever, Professor Aryeetey insisted the processes leading up to the signing of the agreement with Integras were transparent, with all relevant stakeholders being kept informed of all developments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no scandal at all in relation to the $64.4 million contract. Africa Integras signed an agreement that they were supposed to spend that money. As far as I know, by the time the project stopped, they had spent about $28 million. How does a phony company come and spend $28 million? You can see the buildings coming up and yet it has been written that I have signed an agreement with a phony company. We haven\u2019t spent any money ourselves, it\u2019s the \u2018phony\u2019 company that\u2019s spending the money; how does a phony company put up buildings?,\u201d Professor Aryeetey asked.<\/p>\n
He also dismissed assertions that that he had received financial inducements to allow the project to proceed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can assure the public that nothing untoward took place. The processes that were followed were very transparent. It\u2019s being suggested that there was something corrupt, but there\u2019s no such thing. I was never offered any money by any of the persons we dealt with. I have never asked for anything nor have I taken money from anybody in relation to this or any other project. Any suggestions of wrongdoing will be completely misplaced.\u201d<\/p>\n