North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has unveiled startling new details regarding the ongoing $34.9 million ambulance spare parts deal scandal.
According to Ablakwa, President Akufo-Addo’s daughters are allegedly linked to Service Ghana Auto Group Limited, the company at the heart of this controversial transaction.
Mr. Ablakwa, who initially exposed the deal and subsequently petitioned the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate potential corruption, shared additional documents on his Facebook page on Wednesday, July 24. These documents suggest that Service Ghana Auto Group Limited received favorable treatment due to its connections with the president’s daughters.
The company reportedly received a $10 million payment in February, five days before the former Finance Minister left office. The Auditor-General’s report revealed that Service Ghana Auto Group Limited was engaged and paid for eight months before the government officially awarded them the contract.
Furthermore, the company was tasked with providing maintenance services in January 2020, even though it was only incorporated on April 24, 2020.
Despite the damning findings by the Auditor-General, including procurement breaches, inflated invoices, lack of value for money, fraudulent use of National Ambulance Service staff, and the company’s refusal to refund undeserved payments, the government proceeded with the $34.9 million spare parts deal.
Ablakwa questions why the government ignored these serious issues and awarded another significant contract to the same company.
In his latest revelations, Ablakwa disclosed that one of the directors of Service Ghana Auto Group Limited, Stephen Okoro, is a close business partner and longtime associate of President Akufo-Addo’s daughters.
Okoro and Gyankroma Akufo-Addo are the only directors of SFO Initiatives Limited, a company involved in building and road construction, civil engineering works, and food and crop farming since its incorporation on August 9, 2013.
Ablakwa’s investigation also revealed that on August 12, 2020, Stephen Okoro, Gyankroma Akufo-Addo, and Edwina Akufo-Addo incorporated Goodbox Limited, a company running a gym.
Keli Gadzekpo, the Board Chair of ECG and a presidential appointee, was made a shareholder of Goodbox Limited. Additionally, on August 20, 2020, the trio incorporated Good Grow Limited, a company focused on growing and farming cannabis, taking advantage of Ghana’s new legal cannabis regime spearheaded by President Akufo-Addo.
Ablakwa asserts that Ken Ofori-Atta, the former Finance Minister, approved the $34.9 million ambulance spare parts deal and the subsequent $10 million payment to benefit his nieces and their business partner.
He believes Ofori-Atta’s primary focus was on ensuring the financial gain of the presidential family, fearing that a new Finance Minister might sabotage their interests.
According to Ablakwa, the preferential treatment given to Stephen Okoro’s Service Ghana Auto Group Limited now makes sense, given the family connections.
He also noted that Okoro has incorporated six other companies between 2017 and 2020, highlighting a “golden era” of business opportunities for him.
In an interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday, July 24, Ablakwa emphasized that President Akufo-Addo’s promise to avoid a family and friends government has not materialized. He hopes the Special Prosecutor will thoroughly investigate these new findings and prevent the government from paying the additional $24.9 million to Service Ghana Auto Group Limited.
“It is my hope that the OSP will be allowed the free hand to conduct his investigations. In the interim, let us do everything in our power to prevent the payment of the outstanding $24.9 million. Together, we shall win this battle,” Ablakwa stated.