The Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) has taken a swipe at the government, accusing it of mismanaging the process of acquiring the US$3 billion Chinese loan which was approved by Parliament in 2011 for various infrastructural development projects.
According to the NPP, the way and manner the entire process had been handled by the government was worrying, since it had failed to put the interest of Ghanaians first before any other interest.
"If you look at the entire agreement, and the way the government is handling the process, there is no value for money," argued Osei-Kyei-Mensah Bonsu, Minority Leader, at a news conference in Accra yesterday.
Mr. Bonsu said the above-mentioned fact, coupled with several illegalities in the entire agreement between the Government of Ghana and the Chinese Government, was the reason why till date, not a single pesewa had been released by the latter to finance the planned projects of the former.
Their observation was in sharp response to the recent press briefing by the Minister of Information and Media Relations held at the Flagstaff House, and which sought to allay the fears and doubts of critics of the government that the US$3 billion Chinese loan would never materialize, because of illegalities in the said agreement.
Continuing, Mr. Bonsu said, in order to access the loan, the government ought to undertake a review of the entire agreement to address the various challenges underpinning the release of the money by the Chinese government.
For instance, the Minority argued that the fifteen years collateralisation of the country's oil revenue to the Chinese government was a clear violation of Section 18(7) of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act.
The above-mentioned Act restricts the collateralisation of oil revenues for debts for a period of not more than ten years.
Another contending issue, according to the Minority, was Parliament's approval of the agreement without approving of the principal finance documents.
This, Mr. Bonsu, who is the Member of Parliament for Suame, noted, was a breach of both the Constitution and the Master Finance Agreement (MFA).
"Aside the constitutional imperative, doesn't it sound logical and indeed, commonsensical that the representatives of the people on whose behalf a loan facility is to be contracted are made to see and approve of such documents before government contracts the loan?" Mr. Bonsu quizzed.
The first schedule of the MFA for the US$3 billion Chinese loan required the Government of Ghana to show evidence that Ghana's Parliament had approved and authorised the borrowers (GOG) entry into the finance documents.
The principal finance documents included the Subsidiary Agreements, the Five-party Agreements and the Off-Taker Agreement, among others.
Also worrying, according to the Minority, was that no commitments were imposed on the Chinese, an indication Mr. Bonsu interpreted to mean that "the ills of the STX agreements were being re-imposed on the state."
The much-talked about local content, Mr. Bonsu noted, would be sidelined if the government failed to address what had been stated in the agreement.
"Clause 3 in the MFA provides that a minimum of 60% of the contracts should be awarded to Chinese companies. Our concern is that this minimum requirement means that potentially, 100% of the contract could go to the Chinese companies, and the Agreement would not be breached.
"We wanted government to renegotiate this to, say, a "maximum" of 60% or even 70%, so that we could have a minimum of 30% or even 40% reserved for Ghanaians," the Minority Leader intoned.
Another concern raised by the Minority was that no proper feasibility study was conducted into the execution of the projects identified by the Government of Ghana. For instance, the Minority said in the agreement, the Coastal Fishing Harbours and Landing Sites Project was quoted as requiring between US$150 million and US$250 million, a gap of US$100 million.
That of the Eastern Corridor Multi-Modal Transportation Project had a gap of US$350 million, after a price quotation of US$150 - US$500 million, whereas the Accra Metropolitan ICT-Enhanced Traffic Management Project had a gap of US$50 million, following its quotation of US$150 - US$200 million.
These three projects, the Minority argued, could potentially be executed at US$450 million, and wondered what would happen to the unutilised component when the planned projects are executed at least cost.
Concerned for value for money about the US$3 billion Chinese loan, the Minority urged the government and the Minister of Information and Media Relations to refrain from propaganda, and put in measures that would enable Ghanaians benefit from the deal.
Comments Post a comment