SHOCKER: No Contract On $525,000 AFCON 2017 Bid Document

It has emerged that no contract has been signed between the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) and RICS Consult for the preparation of Ghana’s 2017 AFCON bid document.

Although the consultant finished the document and received an initial payment of $68,000, there is no legal document signed between the two parties for the full payment of $525,000.
This was disclosed when the Sports Ministry, led by Isaac Asiamah, took its turn at the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament sitting yesterday.

According to the Sports Minister, he has not seen any signed document between his ministry and the consultant, indicating that his ministry is not in the position to pay any other money.
He, however, admitted that all processes for the preparation and submission of the document were done, and an initial payment also made to the bidding committee, but since there was no document signed, he cannot make further payments.

Head of Finance at the ministry, Emmanuel Oteng also indicated that the then Minister, Mahama Ayariga, did not mention the said agreement in his handing-over notes; therefore, subsequent ministers could not act on it when they assumed office.

Thus, the ministry assumed that GH₵125,000 paid to a committee set up to bid for 2017 AFCON constitutes full payment for all services rendered.

The Sports Ministry’s appearance at the Public Accounts Committee was a follow-up to the Annual Report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana – Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for the year ended December 31, 2015.

According to the Auditor-General’s Report, RICS Consult, belonging to Mr Rex Danquah, was sole sourced for the preparation of the document.

The report stated that sole sourcing such a contract was in violation of Section 40 of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663), which requires procurement entities to seek approval from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) before they engage in single source procurement.

Outstanding payment - $456,263.56
Records also available to the Auditor-General showed that the ministry was committed to paying the company an amount of $525,000, out of which $68,736.44 had been paid, leaving an outstanding balance of $456,263.56.

Investigate $68,736.64
The Auditor-General recommended that management should investigate and ensure that the amount of $68,736.64 paid had been properly accounted for, and the appropriate sanctions enshrined in Section 92 of the act meted out to those who infringed on the law.

GH¢125,000 Not supported by documents
They also noted that receipts, totalling GH¢125,000 and submitted by RICS Consult, were not supported by the necessary expenditure details to substantiate the amount spent.

Additionally, VAT receipt no. 10359301 of September 29, 2014 for GH¢2,523.30 on hotel accommodation allegedly provided to six persons at three different locations was issued by EMMS Hospitality, a company based in Accra.

The Auditor-General advised that Mr Rex Danquah, the recipient of the amount should be held liable for refund of the amount.

It would be recalled that in September 2014, the then Sports Minister, Mahama Ayariga, appointed an 11-member committee to work towards securing the right to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2017) in Ghana.