Sumaila Abdul Rahman, head of the Northern Development Authority (NDA) has told this paper that he is unable to comment on allegations of forged figures and signatures seeking to fraudulently change a contract sum over Ghc5 million to over Ghc10million.
In an interview with the paper he said “I cannot comment on this matter please” to our reporter who sort to ask more questions on the contract. Our reporter wanted to ask him about the details of his meeting with the Chief of Staff and what he has been told to do.
The reporter wanted to find out why Controller and Accountant General (CAG) was not being stopped by Sumaila Abdul Rahman from paying 80 percent of a fraudulent transaction tainted with forged signatures and doctored figures.
It would be recalled that the former CEO of Northern Development Authority run to the chief of staff and the President of Ghana to spill the beans on how the current CEO Sumaila Abdul Rahman led management fraudulently falsified figures and transported his signature to cash in on an over 10 million Ghana cedis deal.
The Controller and Accountant General (CAG) who have already payed 30 percent of the unclean transaction would move ahead next week to pay another 50 percent the New Crusading Guide can confirm.
“We are performing our normal duties, we hear rumours of bad transactions but until an official letter is written to us to stop the transaction we cannot on our own refuse to pay the money to the contractor, there are legal implications for us,” our source at CAG who did not want to be named said.
“The documents are all here, we paid the first 30 percent and would pay the next 50 percent to A&Q consortium as spelled out in the contractual document next week,” the CAG official said.
In a strong worded petition to the Chief of staff copied to the President with the headline:
“FALSIFICATION OF A&Q’s CONTRACT UNDER THE IPEP” the lecturer at Sociology Department and former CEO of NDA, Dr, Sulemana Anamzoya, detailed how the fraud was perpetrated in his name by the Sumaila Abdul Rahman led Management.
“Quite recently, my attention was drawn to a contract purportedly signed by me whiles I was in office as Ag. Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Development Authority (NDA), awarding a Consultancy Service contract to A&Q’s Consortium (A&Q’s) in the sum of Ten Million Four Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis (Gh10, 400,000), under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP). I wish to draw the attention of your office to the following…” he said in the petition.
He added that during his tenure as Ag. CEO of NDA between December 18, 2019 and March 31, 2021, he never signed a Gh10,400,000 contract for A&Q’s for Consultancy Supervision or for any services, and that the only contract he awarded to A&Q’s for the sum of Gh5,720,000.
He intimated to the Chief of Staff Frema Opare that the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) on January 16, 2020 gave approval to NDA to use single source procurement for the recruitment of various consultancy services for the purpose of the implementation of the IPEP program.
“The PPA approval letter provided details of the appointment, the proposed consultants, the number of constituencies per region for each consultant, and the estimated cost per each consultant (please find enclosed PPA’s approval letter).
On January 28, 2020 with PPA approval, I signed contracts awarding the consultancy services contract to the five (5) consultants who were approved by the PPA” he said in the petition
He added that accordance with the PPA approval and the contract he signed, A&Q’s was engaged to provide Consultancy Supervision for eleven constituencies in the Upper West Region at an estimated cost of Five Million, Seven Hundred and Twenty Thousand Ghana Cedis (Gh5,720,000) only.
“Even though the award letter I signed has an amount of Gh5,720,000, I have sighted a doctored version of the award letter which indicates that I purportedly signed a Consultancy Supervision Contract to A&Q’s under the IPEP at a cost of Ten Million, Four Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis (Gh10,400,000) which document I vehemently deny as having emanated from me. (Please find attached the doctored contract document).” He added
“As evidenced by the doctored contract attached, my signature was transposed on a contract (with a sum of Gh10,400,000), whose numbering does not tally with the remaining pages of the contract,” he affirmed in the petition.
He told the Chief of Staff and the President that “Whatever the intent of the perpetrators might be, this matter needs urgent attention to expose the perpetrators and punishment meted out to them, but more importantly to clear me of any wrong doing). Accordingly, I wish to bring this to your attention for your good office for further investigations, whilst I take steps to report the incident to the Ghana Police Service”
The New Crusading GUIDE would from next week be publishing more documents on the subject.
The meeting with the Chief of Staff and the government strategic decision on how this case must be handled. What the board member who went with him to the Jubilee house has been saying to his friends. Activities of the board of NDA that have gone a long way to endorse this transaction despite their knowledge of the malpractice
Stay tuned for more
