There is a credible information to the effect that Omni Bank owned by Zoomlion owner, Joseph Siaw Agyepong has almost sealed a deal with the central bank, the Bank of Ghana (BOG) for the sale and purchase of the BOG’s shares in Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS).
And if this is finally done, it would be a case worthy of investigation, particularly because of the quick manner this particular bank (Omni Bank) has been grown and sponsored to mature so quickly to be engaging in all manner of transactions including taking over a very sensitive and lucrative national asset like GhIPSS.
In the words of the bank’s own M. D, Phillip Oti-Mensah, “We have grown our capital from 4 million cedis to over 140 million in the short period. Just three years ago, we were at the bottom but now we are number one”.
How did that happen and who ensured the right thigs were done? In the next 3 years, they hope to increase their capital assets from 140million cedis currently to over 3 billion cedis in 2020. Is this genuinely possible in a highly competitive and choked banking system, especially for a new industry entrant?
So this is where our state regulators ought to sit up, more so when the owners of the same bank have a record of allegedly purchasing state assets like the Akwatia Diamond and refusing to pay.
The second reason this purported transaction should not be allowed is that the owner of the bank has been involved in too many scandals and corruption related issues. In the GYEEDA Scandal in 2013, the two of his companies featured prominently.
In page 138 of the Ministerial Impact Assesment & Review Report of the Ghana Youth Employment & Enterprenurial Agency (GYEEDA) on July 2013, the committee made two key recommendations about Zoomlion and its subsidiaries who were service providers, that the contract with Better Ghana Management Services Ltd. should be terminated in accordance with the termination provisions in the contract as it does not provide value for money.
It again recommended that considering the expiration of the waste and sanitation contract with ZOOMLION, this contract should be subjected to competitive bidding, rationalised against a separate existing contract by the same SP with the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to avoid duplication and reduce chances of overcharge.
Then in the multi-million dollar scandal with Subah Infosolutions Ltd in which in a rather bizarre circumstances, Subah managed to secure a contract to earn millions of cedis in a service which was already being provided free-of-charge by AFRIWAVE. On 26th October, 2013, www.citifmonline.com had also reported that “available evidence shows that the company did absolutely no work for the people of Ghana to merit the average GHc4 million it received monthly from the tax watchdog.
Our crack team of investigators looking hard at piles of files and account records of Subah InfoSolutions has uncovered various payments by the company to a number of institutions and individuals”.
Regrettably, however, the NDC government then did nothing to halt the mess involving Subah even after several experts had condemned that particular contract. For example, the President of Policy Thinkthank, IMANI is reported to have remarked on 14th May, 2014 by the Chronicled newspaper that “ I don’t want to call it a fraud, but I am extremely worried about government’s acceptance of the report, which is a broad day robbery”.
The Imani President also noted with interest that the law that gives backing to the communications service tax, which gave birth to the contract, was actually passed in July 2013. “Again, you can’t be working before the law was actually passed for the very activity you were supposed to undertake,” he noted.
In October 2013, The Chronicle reported that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) had paid a whopping GH¢144 million to Subah Infosolutions Limited for allegedly monitoring revenues generated by the telecom companies.
The calculation was based on a monthly payment of GH¢4 million. Information obtained at the time indicated that the GRA contracted SUBAH INFOSOLUTIONS LIMITED somewhere in 2010 to electronically monitor revenue generated by the telecom companies to enable them to calculate and collect the right taxes from the companies. The contract is worth $100 million per year.
A renowned economist, Dr. Nii Moi Thompson wrote an article in the same newspaper questioning various aspects of that contract which became a huge scandal for the NDC government. He wrote that “The 13.5% rate (and the associated GH¢75 million fee) implies that Subah would have brought in GH¢555 million (the so-called “incremental revenue”) more than the GRA collected to merit such a fee.
But data from the government’s budget statements from 2010 to 2013 show that the combined forecasted revenue from the CST for the period 2010-2012 was GH¢437,291,000, with a provisional outcome of GH¢411,475,720. This meant a shortfall of GH¢25,815,280 or 5.9% of the forecast.
“It is clearly impossible for Subah to have contributed GH¢555 million “more” to an amount that was smaller. In other words, the numbers don’t add up, literally and figuratively. But there is also a fundamental question of whether in the face of limited and shrinking financial resources, this was the best way to spend public money, even under competitive bidding: Contract a company to do what the GRA’s Audit Department is mandated to do, and has been doing anyway.
“Indeed, auditing is an integral part of any tax agency worth its salt, and the fact that government would pay a company millions of cedis to do what it already does, gives the impression that the contract was contrived to siphon money from the government fiscus into private pockets. There is no other way to look at it, given the facts as they are.
In his interactions with the media, the GRA boss also conceded that Subah had to perform only one aspect of the contract (that is, to review data from a CD Rom given monthly by the telcos to the National Communication Authority (NCA), because the telcos would not allow Subah to install machines on their nodes to monitor incoming calls.
“It is hard to imagine that a contract of such magnitude and duration would be signed by GRA without due diligence by lawyers and technocrats alike to inform all affected parties, including the telcos, of their roles and responsibilities. This casts further doubt on the motives and contents of the contract.
On January 18, 2015, the Ghanaian Chronicle made a publication under the caption “World Bank Blacklists Zoomlion … Over Corruption And Fraud”, quoting the website of the world’s biggest financial institution, The World Bank, to the effect that the bank “has blacklisted the Ghanaian company for allegedly indulging in fraud and corruption, whilst executing some of its flagship projects in Africa”.
It was perhaps instructive to observe that the in that publication, the newspaper described the World Bank as “a no nonsense international financial institution”. The World Bank did not quote any specific amount that changed hands, but in a statement published on its website, the bank noted that Zoomlion and its affiliates mentioned in the report are ineligible to be awarded a World Bank-financed contract for the periods ranging from September 23, 2013, to September 23, 2015.
The bank was, however, categoric that it was sanctioning the company under the Bank’s fraud and corruption policy as set forth in the Procurement Guidelines or the Consultant Guidelines. The ban affected the Accra Compost Plant, an affiliate of Zoomlion, Zoom Alliance, Zoomlion Ghana Limited and its affiliates across Africa.
On November 25, 2014, The Chronicle published yet another story about the activities of Zoomlion, this time over importation and sale of dump trucks that were meant to execute government contracts. The story read “Sanitation giants, Zoomlion Ghana Limited appears to have stabbed the government in the back. After being assisted to clear 100 refuse trucks, 154 dump trucks, 38 towing trucks and 1230 motorbikes on permit, the company has turned round to sell some of these trucks to individuals, without the blink of an eye.
The trucks were imported essentially to assist the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to execute some specific projects; hence the decision to clear them on permit from the Tema Port, but five months after the importation, the company started selling the trucks to private individuals.
The cover of the nocturnal deal was blown when the Driver Vehicle License Authority (DVLA) refused the transfer of the trucks, which were sold at $80,000 each, into the names of the new owners.
On February 3, 2012, Mrs. Comfort Boahene-Osafo, a Deputy Commissioner on behalf of the Commissioner General, wrote a letter with reference number OPS EXM-120203 to the Commissioner in charge of custom division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Accra division, directing him to allow Zoomlion to clear the aforementioned trucks on permit.
The letter reads: “This is to inform you that approval has been granted in accordance with Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning letter number SA/MOFEP/CEPS/105 and dated February 2, 2012, for clearance of the above consignment on permit by Zoomlion Ghana Limited.
“We attach herewith copies of the Bill of Laden numbers: MDW1124SHGTM001, SWX1104W0036, KKLUMFM8437200, SRHSHC1104F, LLLUMFM8461400, SWAX1104W-0035, MDW1124SHGTM002, KLSH001, DSJA600138, LOKTEM01, attesting to the consignment of the above to Zoomlion Ghana Limited.
“This approval is specific to the above consignment of 100 refuse trucks, 154 dump trucks, 38 towing trucks and 1230 motorbikes. This facility is granted pending Parliamentary approval. The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development/Zoomlion would be required to pay the duties and taxes”. Based on this letter, the Customs division of the GRA allowed Zoomlion to clear the trucks on permit on February 10, 2012.
But despite the fact that the trucks were meant to execute specific duties, the company has surprisingly started selling them.
On September 9, 2013, the Madina-Accra area Manager of Zoomlion, Mr. S. Asiedu Offei wrote a letter to the Director of the DVLA to change the ownership of one of the trucks they have sold.
The letter reads: “This is to inform you that we have sold the above mentioned vehicle – Dayun Dump Truck with registration number GC 1391-12, chassis number LG6DANH1BY202257 to Heals-B Construction Limited P.O. Box 161, Takoradi. We would appreciate if you could amend your records accordingly”.
The Chronicle established that when the new owners of the vehicle took it to the DVLA to effect the change of ownership as directed by Zoomlion, they were told in the face that the vehicle was not meant for sale and that they could not change the ownership into their name.
Despite this setback, Zoomlion has also failed to refund the $80,000 paid as purchase price for the vehicle. Though The Chronicle contacted the Public Affairs department of Zoomlion for their side of the story, they failed to respond to our enquiries”.
In SADA also, some companies belonging to the same person were not spare. Clearly, the man behind all these have questionable moral and ethical character and must be looked at carefully. Or could it be the reason behind a recent advocacy for GhIPSS in the Bank of Ghana Retail Payment contract? We are watching. More soon.
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