TMA Boss Causes Financial Loss To The State

The Tema Municipal Chief Executive, Samuel Evans Ashong Narh and two others have caused financial loss of ¢1.2 billion to the state. This is the outcome of investigations conducted by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) into the award of contracts at the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA). The two other officials involved are Alhaji I.M.T. Husseini, Co-ordinating Director and Samuel Aryee, Finance Officer of the TMA. The contracts are a ¢900 million spraying and disinfestations of the final waste disposal site at Kpone and the development of a computerised system for billing, payment management and revenue mobilisation at a cost of 300 million cedis. The minority in Parliament and an assembly member affiliated to the NPP first raised concern about the irregularities in the award of the contracts, but the Chief Executive was exonerated by a committee set by the Assembly. The SFO report noted that the spraying and disinfestations contract did not go through tender for competitive bidding as required by the guidelines for the award of contracts by district assemblies. It also found as untenable, the claim by the three officials that the award of the contracts was urgent. The SFO says the issue of decommissioning of Kpone refuse dump had been planned since 1998 with some industries and companies operating in the Tema municipality, providing sand as well as money to buy fuel for equipment to be used for the removal of the refuse. The award of the new contract was therefore unnecessary. The report also described the award of the computerisation contract to "A 5 Consult" as unnecessary and inappropriate. This is because the contract has already been awarded to the Land Valuation Board (LVB) at the cost of 580 million cedis. The Board has started the computerisation of properties in the municipality.