Kweku Eshun
Ministers-Designate Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh and Emmanuel Adu Twum clashed over a vetting question as to who authorized the sole-sourced procurement of more than 853,000 pieces of mathematical sets at Gh¢75 per one and why it had not been fully delivered when it was tagged “urgent” at the time it was being procured.
Energy Minister-designate Mathew Opoku Prempeh found himself wanting when questioned by NDC MP Alhassan Suhuyini over the sole-sourced contract that was signed in September 2019 under “urgency” because the students needed the mathematical sets to write the 2020 WASSCE with. The children wrote the 2020 WASSCE without the maths sets as the maths sets were not delivered by Bluegrass Limited, a company headed by one Kwadwo Darko-Mensah who has since been arrested by NIB.
The sole-sourced mathematical sets also enjoyed a tax waiver of $3.6million from the government of Ghana.
At GH₵75 per mathematical set, the total contract came to ₵63,975,675. Bluegrass Limited failed to deliver within the agreed time. The company later issued PR-statements announcing it had delivered “the first consignment” without stating any figure, long after the WASSCE which was used as the basis for the “urgency” was over.
Adu Twum on Entity Tender Committee
Asked by Alhassan Suhuyini if he knew the CEO of Bluegrass Limited, Kwadwo Darko-Mensah who was awarded the 853,000 maths sets contract at Gh¢75, Napo denied knowing the said gentleman. Napo further denied knowing the gentleman had been arrested or whether it was related to the contract.
When Dr. Emmnanuel Adu-Twum, Minister Designate for Education took his turn before the committee, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu asked him straight what he knew about the mathematical sets contracts.
Dr. Adu Twum without offering any immediate answer said he will submit a report to the committee about the mathematical sets.
This perhaps didn’t go down with Mathew Opoku Prempeh who felt his “deputy for 4 years” who headed the entity tender committee had no ready answer for the maths set saga when asked was strange.
“I want to give a background and I have copies here I can tender. On 6th December 2018, I was written to as Minister of Education introducing Bluegrass by a company called Transnational limited … Mr. Chair, number two I don’t know name of the person he mentioned [Kwadwo Darko-Mensah-Onasis] I don’t know him .. Came to me with a letter that they are introducing an examination compliant mathematical sets…”
… “If you allow me .. This is not a maths set you can buy anywhere. Yesterday this question was asked my Deputy. He [Haruna] even asked about why the mathematical sets were delaying. It was because of Covid, we intended to procure for examinations in which it was the only mathematical set that was going to be allowed … and so we started the procurement early enough to be able to get the mathematical sets.
“My Deputy for four years has been Chairman of the Entity Tender Committee and he knows very well that the mathematical sets … they wrote letters to show why they cannot deliver on time. Subsequently, they delivered part and we paid and I am sure they will deliver the rest.” Napo said.
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