Minority MPs are angry after it emerged in Parliament Monday that disgraced firm, Smartty’s Company Limited is the local representative of a Chinese company, Hunan Construction and Engineering Group in a 92 million dollar loan facility for an electrification project.
Despite strong objections from the minority, Parliament on Monday approved the loan facility for the project that would see several communities connected onto the national grid.
The project will provide around 556 towns and villages with electricity in Volta, Eastern and Northern regions of Ghana.
The Chinese firm is expected to supply and erect electrical structures and equipment for the beneficiary communities.
However, there are fears from the Minority in Parliament that Hunan Group is represented in Ghana by Smartty’s, the PR Firm which suffered massive embarrassment after they excessively inflated the contract sum for the rebranding of some 116 buses.
An assessment by Crown agents on the electrification project revealed that the deal had been overpriced by 9 million dollars much to the ire of minority MPs.
Minority leader Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu was one of the Minority members who raised objections before the loan was passed.
He wondered why there appeared to be no transparency in government dealings with the local representative of Hunan.
“I would think that if this matter had happened way back and the company had sufficiently purged itself…but four days after this re-branding matter came up then we have this in parliament, just four days, then it was reintroduced by way of the relaying of the reports.
“Mr. Speaker, the issue about due diligence by Crown agents has made some savings for us as a nation. I have always insisted that this House should be able to engage consultants when such matters come before us so that we can also compare,” the Suame MP said.
