One of the leading state-owned banks, National Investment Bank (NIB), has rubbished corruption allegations leveled against some top officials of the organisation by some so-called concerned workers.
According to the bank, none of its top officials is engaged in any illegal act as alleged by the Daily Searchlight newspaper in its Wednesday 5th April 2017 edition.
Below is the full rejoinder:
Re – Explosions at NIB, Concerned Workers Allege Startling Revelations
We read with apprehension your article titled Explosions at NIB, Concerned Workers Allege Startling Revelations as contained in your Wednesday 5th April 2017 edition of the Daily Searchlight. In the said article, your paper sought to create the impression among the public as though the Bank was in turmoil. We are compelled to send this rejoinder because we find the allegations slanderous and untrue. We wish to state the facts as they are for the reading public to make their judgment.
On the issue of the supposed irregularities pertaining to the Oracle Database Project, we wish to place on record that, the selection of Vendor for the Oracle Database Project was through a Selective Bidding Process which was competitive and transparent. Three (3) companies were asked to submit Request for Quotations for the project. All the three (3) were further asked to quote hundred per cent (100%) for all items needed for the full project including their accompanying prices.
One (1) of the companies quoted for the full project. However, the remaining two (2) failed to quote with the explanation that, they can only quote unless they commence the project. The bank sent reminders to all the three (3) companies but only one (1) company quoted. The remaining two (2) still failed to give quotations for the total project. The quotations of all three (3) companies were then submitted to the Board Sub-Committee on ICT of the Bank for evaluation and selection.
The Board Sub-Committee in its wisdom asked that, the remaining two (2) companies still needed to quote for the full project. Hence, they asked the team to send reminders to those two (2) companies which had failed to quote. Interestingly, they still refused to submit quotations for the pricing of the two (2) components of the project. Time was of essence in all these processes as the Bank needed to migrate from JBase to Oracle so as to be in the position to serve customers better.
The Board Sub-Committee, then referred the Quotations received to the Board of the Bank to take a decision. The Board was satisfied with the quotations for the entire project scope received from one of the three companies and therefore awarded the contract to the said company. The process was transparent and fair to all the companies.
At no point in the process did any of the companies offer 50% discount on any of the project components for which the Bank did not accept. The MD/CEO did not take a unilateral decision to award the project to any company of his choice nor did he fail to disclose the full facts of the proposals to the Board. This is completely untrue and only an attempt to tarnish the reputation of the MD/CEO of our reputable institution.
It is a palpable falsehood that, Mr. Solomon Okonkwo the Acting Head of ICT was employed by the current CEO when there was no need for that appointment. This is to say that, prior to Mr. Okonkwo’s appointment, he was a consultant to the Bank on its ICT and T24 Core Banking application software. Based on his in-depth knowledge on the T24 Core Banking application software, he was employed in April 2016 on a permanent basis to bring on board his knowledge and expertise to enable the Bank overcome its ICT challenges even before Mr. John Asamoah, the current MD/CEO took over.
That an unusual increase in the revenue of the bank was recorded in the third and fourth quarters of 2016 and could be proved by the Bank’s auditors report and financial statements for 2016 financial year which is being worked on by the auditors of the bank and their findings would be published in widely circulated newspapers for all to make judgment.
Therefore, the assertion that CEO, Mr. John Kweku Asamoah is engaged in acts of corruption is not only false, but mischievous and dishonest.
Over the last two (2) years, our branch network has increased tremendously from twenty-eight (28) branches to forty-six (46) branches nationwide as well as fifty-six (56) ATMs including off-site ATMs nationwide. We recently launched our MasterCard services and this enables our customers to access over 200 million ATMs worldwide. Our performance in the industry has received accolades both locally and overseas.
In 2016, we were the, 1st Runner Up in Household/Retail Banking at the Ghana Banking Awards; we won the award as the Best Investment Bank in Ghana by the Banker Africa at the West African Awards and Best performing Development Finance Institution in Africa, Association of African Development Finance Institutions (AADFI) Awards in 2013 among others.
In the absence of concrete evidence and proof, we will urge the newspaper to retract and further give prominence to this rejoinder. Being a parastatal bank, NIB operates an open-door policy which allows aggrieved employees to be abreast of happenings and developments at the bank.
In conclusion, we wish to thank our numerous customers nationwide for the opportunity to serve them and wish to state that, we are committed to taking specific interventions that will enhance customer experience in NIB.
Issued by Corporate Affairs Department
National Investment Bank
37 Kwame Nkrumah Avenue
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