The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has been accused of engaging in shady and wasteful practices in the construction of its new Corporate Head Office, which is estimated to cost over US$250 million.
According to Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a Member of Parliament for North Tongu, he has obtained information from ‘patriotic’ insiders at the BoG and other credible sources that reveal how the project cost has escalated from an initial US$81.8 million to US$121 million within eight months, and is likely to exceed US$250 million due to variation reports.
“Patriotic Bank of Ghana insiders working with me on this latest oversight project have expressed grave concern about how this BoG office complex which started at US$81.8 million, surprisingly shot up to US$121 million, and now variation reports are being prepared which are likely to exceed an incredible US$250 million,” he wrote.
In a Facebook post on August 17, 2023, Ablakwa said he decided to activate his constitutionally mandated parliamentary oversight role to unravel the mystery behind the project, which he described as extravagant and wasteful.
He said the BoG had violated the Public Procurement Act by using the Restricted Tendering Method to handpick five companies for the project, one of which was not even registered at the Office of the Registrar of Companies.
The BoG, according to him, procured the services of a company called MULTICAD to carry out project management through single-sourcing. An action, Mr Ablakawa describes as ‘another reckless and lawless conduct’.
“Deeper investigations into the shady BoG head office project led me to discover another reckless and lawless conduct by the Addison-led Central Bank when they procured the services of a company known as MULTICAD to carry out project management through single-sourcing,” he added.
He said the BoG had refused to be transparent, candid, and accountable to the good people of Ghana, and had failed to disclose the current cost of the project, the procurement method, the contract award date, and the completion date.
He said he was shocked by an interview of Mr. Charles Elias Reindorf, the Director of Finance at the BoG, who abruptly ended an interview when asked about the cost of the project.
“A shocking and embarrassing interview of Mr. Charles Elias Reindorf, Director of Finance at the Central Bank, where he abruptly ended an interview following a harmless question on the cost of the project, has since gone viral. Instructively, the Bank of Ghana in all its public engagements has refused to disclose the current cost of the project, the procurement method, when the project was awarded, and the scheduled completion date,” Mr Ablakwa noted.
He also dismissed the claims by some NPP propagandists that the project started under the NDC when Hon. Ato Forson served on the BoG Board between 2013 and 2017.
He said his intercepted documents showed that the procurement for the project did not commence under the NDC or during the presidency of John Mahama.