Ghana’s Senior Minister responds to Auditor-General on $1m Kroll payment

In a letter addressed to Mr Domelevo, the Senior Minister said he wants to explain and set the record straight on the issue involving the private firm.

The minister in his letter dated October 8, 2019, said approval was obtained for the request for single-source procurement of professional services despite claims by the Auditor General that he failed to seek approval from the Procurement Authority.

The Auditor-General accused Mr Osafo-Maafo of making full payment of more than GHC1 million to Kroll and Associates with no proof of work done. He said the payment was made through the Finance Ministry.

Auditor General, Daniel Yao Domelevo Pulse Ghana

Responding to the allegations, Mr Osafo-Maafo said “Proofs of work done by Kroll and Associates are contained in their respective reports submitted to the office of the Senior Minister, COCOBOD, Bank of Ghana and Economic and Organized Crime Office(EOCO). The Consultancy services with Kroll [are] ongoing and expected to continue for a period of four years.”

The letter also revealed, “one of Kroll’s reports for work done was in respect of LITHOvit agro-chemicals supplied by Seidu Agongo to COCOBOD for $106,541,589.82 which is now the subject of a case in the High Court.”

“The work done by Kroll, in this case, included Bank Analysis and Supplier Overview which disclosed that 90% of the revenue Seidu Agongo earned from COCOBOD was from agrochemicals sales amounting to $106,541,589.82 which has turned out to be worthless,” he added.

Mr Osafo-Maafo further indicated that Kroll is still investigating several other cases for the government and helping in assets recoveries and prosecution.