Fresh details of infractions in GHS 10m NDA signature forgery case pop up
Fresh details have emerged that suggest that signatures on documents that were used to effect the payment of an amount of ¢10m by the Northern Development Authority (NDA) were forged.
The alleged infraction was made to inflate the figures.
Copies of multiple receipts intercepted by Myjoyonline.com shows that over the ¢10 million contract was allegedly bloated from the initial ¢5.7 million estimate under the supervision of the current NDA CEO Sumaila Abdul Rahman.
On June 30, it was reported that the Controller and Accountant General’s Department was readying to make a payment which will further entrench some irregularities at the NDA despite the Authority’s former CEO having petitioned the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, over a fraud issue involving his successor.
Dr Sulemana Anamzoya, in the petition, accused his successor, Sumaila Abdul Rahman, of falsifying figures and forging his signature to cash in a ¢10,400,000 contract.
The two-page petition, which was copied to President Akufo-Addo, detailed how the Sumaila Abdul Rahman-led management committed the fraud in his name.
“Quite recently, my attention has been drawn to a contract purportedly signed by me while 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 ¢10,400,000 under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP),” portions of the document sighted by JoyNews read.
According to him, the only contract he awarded to A&Q’s firm while in office was a sum of ¢5,720,000.
In the petition, the former CEO also noted that the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), on January 16, 2020, gave approval to NDA to use single-source procurement to recruit various consultancy services to implement the IPEP programme.
Dr Anamzoya said he engaged A&Qs to provide Consultancy Supervision for 11 constituencies in the Upper West Region at an estimated cost of ¢5,720,000.
“Even though the award letter I signed has an amount of ¢5,720,000, 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 the cost of ¢10,400,000 which I vehemently deny as having emanated from me (please find attached the doctored contract document).
Sources say about 30% of the money was already paid in May 2021 to the Authority.
The New Crusading Guide’s sources at the CAGD revealed that “…we [Controller and Accountant General’s Department] paid the first 30 per cent and would pay the next 50 per cent to A&Q consortium as spelt out in the contractual document next week.”
From the foregoing, if this payment is effected, the cumulative amount will go beyond the ¢5.7 million agreed by the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) since ¢3 million of the doctored ¢10 million had already been paid to the consortium.
Below are copies of receipts from the transactions:
Meanwhile, a legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu has already drawn the attention of the Office of the Special Prosecutor to accusations of irregularities.
