The Founder and President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has indicted ex-Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, for encumbering the state with a GH¢95 million judgment debt payment, saying it was completely avoidable.
On Monday, June 1, 2020, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) kicked out West Blue Consulting and replaced it with the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) to do all transactions related to the import and export of goods in the country’s various ports.
ICUMS replaces the Ghana Customs Management Systems (GCMS) – a multiplicity vendor system where ‘valuation and classification’ as well as ‘risk management and payment’ were handled by different entities – previously operated by the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) and West Blue Consulting.
According to a statement issued by the GRA in April 2020, the decision to discontinue the services of GCNet and West Blue, was informed by the need for a single window service provider deploying an end-to-end system.
This came, despite several months of protests and warming from various quarters, including the media of a looming judgment debt to the Finance Ministry and Trade Ministry.
The GRA, through its boss, Julie Essiam, disclosed that GH¢95 million, has been awarded against the government of Ghana for the termination of a contract with IT consultancy firm, West Blue Consulting, under which the company provided technical and support services to the GRA from 2015 to 2020.
Franklin Cudjoe, who stated that his outfit was involved in the case, said the GH¢95 million judgment debt payment was completely avoidable.
He insisted that, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer was aware of the issues surrounding the judgement and was devastated.
The IMANI boss, said that the vice president and his Economic Management Team, were completely ignored in the deal and he had no power to stop it, even though he was so unhappy about it.
“And on this one, IMANI was so much involved that I personally saw a very depressed and exasperated Vice-president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who couldn’t do anything to stop the process. Here he wasn’t the driver, he wasn’t even a mate. He and his Economic Management Team were simply shoved aside. The finance minister, Ofori-Atta, and the Trade Minister, Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, at the time spearheaded this and here we are with a debt that was totally avoidable,” Franklin Cudjoe wrote on X on July 30, 2024.
He added, “This is just easy money for lawyers of West Blue. It hurts because sometimes it smells like create, loot and share.”
Kofi Bentil, a vice president of IMANI Africa, also in a post shared on X on July 30, 2024, corroborated the claims made by Franklin Cudjoe.
He said that the vice president’s opposition to the West Blue deal is one of the reasons he supports him.
He indicated that Dr Bawumia, the NPP flagbearer, was against the payment of the judgment debt, but he was overruled.
“This is another reason why I support Dr. Bawumia. As you see in Franklin’s post, Dr. Bawumia was against this mess but the people in real power overruled him and proceeded to wreck things. The Office of the VP needs to be strengthened or scrapped!!! How can a person be head of EMT, but not have real power to do things or stop things he disagrees with like this mess and E-levy. I am assured that when he becomes President, he will correct a lot of wrongs,” he wrote.
West Blue sued the Government of Ghana over supposed GH¢289 million arrears for work done under the National Single Window and Integrated Risk Management System contract executed in August 2015.
The choice of law firm contracted by West Blue, Africa Legal Associates, which was co-founded by NPP stalwart and cousin of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, raised many eyebrows.
Some Ghanaians, including a vice chairman of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, have said that the suit smells of an attempt to “create, loot and share” the country’s resources.
He alleged that the suit was filed after an initial attempt to settle the judgment debt on the case failed.
Copies of the court document shared by Bright Simons showed two alternative sets of reliefs West Blue was seeking from the government.
The first set of reliefs had about four recoveries which sum up to over GH¢300 million plus interest and other payments.
The second set of reliefs, included a recovery sum of US$425,000, interest payment, damages and cost of the arbitration.
The GRA boss, Julie Essiam, had revealed that the government will settle a judgment debt of GH¢95 million to the Information Technology consultancy firm, West Blue Consulting, following the termination of its contract.
“…Indeed, the judgement debt is GH¢95 million. We will not be able to pay all GH¢95 million and therefore the agreement with the court is to pay these in three instalments,” she said.
Madam Essiam made the revelation during a public hearing of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on Monday at Parliament House in Accra.
West Blue Consulting provided technical and support services to the GRA from 2015 to 2020, with the Ministry of Finance facilitating the process.
After the contract was terminated, West Blue filed a lawsuit against the government to recover GH¢289 million.
West Blue Ghana, dragged the GRA and the Attorney General to court to get paid arrears the government owes it for works the company did on the National Single Window (NSW) project.
The company, in a writ filed in an Accra High Court, said although its NSW contract with the government stated that the company would be paid an amount equivalent to 0.35percent of the final invoice value of import consignments entering Ghana through the seaports, airports, and land borders, the same government deliberately reduced the figure to 0.28percent.
West Blue, explained that though it made its lawyers write several letters to the government to explain the discrepancy and to seek that the anomaly be regularized, all the letters fell on deaf ears as the GRA blatantly refused to comply.
The writ filed by Ebow Brew Hammond of African Legal Associates, broke down how it arrived at the amount of GH¢289 million:
“Recovery of the sum of One Hundred and Forty-Nine Million, Three Hundred and Fifty-Seven Thousand, Six Hundred and Ninety-Two Ghana Cedis, Seventy-One Pesewas (GHS149,357,692.71), being the outstanding fees payable to the Plaintiff (West Blue) for services rendered to the Ministry of Finance and the 2nd Defendant (GRA) under the contract dated 4th August 2015 for the provision of the National Single Window and Integrated Risk Management System (“NSW Contract”) from September 2015 to September 2017, at an applicable rate of 0.35% of the final invoice CIF value of import consignments entering into Ghana through the seaports, airports and land borders.
“Recovery of the sum of Seventy-Six Million, Ninety-Seven Thousand, Nine Hundred and Seventeen Ghana Cedis, Fifty-Eight Pesewas (GHS76,097,917.58), being the outstanding fees payable to the Plaintiff for services rendered to the Ministry of Finance and the 2nd Defendant under the NSW Contract from October 2017 to 31st December 2018, at an applicable rate of 0.28% of the final invoice CIF value of import consignments entering into Ghana through the seaports, airports and land borders.
“Recovery of the sum of Sixty-Four Million, Ninety-Two Thousand, Two Hundred and Fifteen Ghana Cedis, Seven Pesewas (GHS64,092,215.07), being the outstanding fees payable to the Plaintiff for services rendered to the Ministry of Finance and the 2nd Defendant from 1st January 2019 to May 2020 at an applicable rate of 0.28% of the final invoice CIF value of import consignments entering into Ghana through the seaports, airports and land borders”.
