The Chief Executive Officer of the Public Procurement Authority, Agyenim Boateng Agyei has said that persons found culpable in SSNIT’s OBS project scandal after the Authority’s audit, will face a jail term of at least 5 years.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Tuesday, Mr Boateng Agyei said the Authority’s audit will cover every aspect of the deal and will reconcile all documents related to the contract as well as collect whatinformation from officers linked to the contract.
“The most important thing in the audit we are conducting is to look out for the possible infraction to the provisions of the law. So if we come out with a report where there has been a contravention to any portion of the law we will then invoke section 92 which prescribes punishments for offences. Anyone that is found to have contravened any section of the act will be summarily subjected to 5-year imprisonment and 500 penalty units,” he said.
SSNIT is being investigated by the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) for blowing $72 million on procuring and installing a software and other hardware systems known as the Operational Business Suite (OBS) in a bid to digitize the Trust.
The cost, which was originally $34 million, later ballooned to $66 million and then to $72 million due to maintenance and additional infrastructure.
The Board Chairman of SSNIT, Kwame Addo Kufuor in an earlier interview with Citi News said about 15 people had already appeared before EOCO as witnesses in the matter.
SSNIT has also contracted PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct an audit into the contract.
But the head of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) said the various investigations looking into the deal will not deter the PPA from undertaking its independent audit.
He said the report from its audit will be forwarded to an appropriate prosecution agency to apply the necessary convictions on those found culpable.
“We will then forward the report to any of the prosecution agencies for them to follow it up and prescribe the necessary conviction because we don’t the mandate on our own,” he said.
Source: citifmonline.com
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I do not get what the man wants to put across. If he is quoting the law then that law(s) need(s) to be reviewed because the punishment does not commensurate the crime committed by these unscrupulous officers at SSNIT. The punishment will be too mild because it is $72 million that we are talking about here. Both the investigators and judiciary are being demanded by Ghanaians to do good service about this particular case and, for that matter, corruption as a whole. We are all watching with eagle eyes.
nana Addo says he will give speeches until corruption will get tired and end itself.
This is what makes my heart boil, this country will burn one day. Ordinary citizens who steal goats, plantain and cell phones get over 10 years. Yet state officials who have connived to rob the nation is millions get paltry sentences. Someone said we are not angry enough, maybe the politicians know this, but one day ...just one day..the citizens will wake up and demand JUSTICE!!!!!
For me dea,the 5yrs is too small
Agyenim Boateng Agyei, are you the court??????? What do you mean five years?????? Have u read or heard this news: "three persons accused of robbing founder of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Akua Donkor, to a total of 60 years in prison for robbing her of $30,000.00." In the SSNIT matter, we are talking of some $72 million and you think 5 years is enough for the culprits. Please do the comparison well!!!!!