Parliamentary Committee to meet GWCL over tussle with SOFTtribe

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Works and Housing has invited management of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) over its dispute with SOFTtribe.

This follows a raid by some operatives of National Security on Monday 26th November 2019 at the offices of the local IT firm,  seemingly to protect the e-billing software database of the Ghana Water Company Limited.

The National Security said the action followed a complaint by the water company that the IT firm was intentionally avoiding them from accessing the database.

There has been a tussle over the termination of the IT firm’s contract with the water company.

While SOFTtribe believes that the decision to terminate the contract was unfair, Ghana Water Company Limited insists that it was necessary.

In an interview with Citi News, Ranking Member of the Committee, Emmanuel Bedzrah stated that they will be meeting with Ghana Water Company Limited in the coming days to address issues.

“This thing is affecting everybody. My understanding is that…we are losing revenue. For now, we want to meet with the Ghana Water Company to really understand what is going on. And then from there if there is a need for us to meet with SOFTtribe we will meet them as well,” he said.

“I have spoken with my Chairman and he has agreed. I have also spoken to the Deputy Minister of Water and Resources. He has also agreed. I have requested for some documentation from the Ministries to be abreast with what is going on there before we meet Ghana Water Company Limited. My expectation is that today, as they advertised, we are meeting Ghana Water Company to discuss their estimates. If they are able to bring their estimates then we will have the discussions. If not, then it will be tomorrow,” he added.

Raid on Soft Tribe

The Ghana Water Company Limited has said that its decision to terminate its contract with local IT firm, SOFTtribe Limited was in the national interest.

According to GWCL, the termination was long overdue due to the many challenges SOFTtribe's e-billing system was fraught with.

“It was established that GWCL's e-billing system was fraught with a lot of disparities and complaints from customers, staff and the early users of the software. There are a lot of people who say they didn't consume that much but were given so much bill. When customers begin to complain about the measurement of their consumption and they are not satisfied, demand is going to slow down, willingness to pay is also going to slow down. It was established that the e-billing solution had some undefined scope and that it was still under development.”