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General News of Saturday, July 13, 2019
Source: clbadfmonline.com
2019-07-13
play the videoKwame Owusu is Chairman of the Board of the Ghana Tax Authority.
The reappointment of Mr. Kwame Owusu by President Nana Akufo-Addo as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Tax Administration "gives the impression that the President does not" perhaps not as concerned about the allegations against him "Professor Ransford Gyampo, a professor in the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, told the General Assembly of the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA).
Last year, the GMA DG was pressured to resign after allegedly using 1 million GHS from the state agency's funds to transform its official two-bedroom residence into a large five-bedroom property with 13 air conditioners .
In a letter dated June 18, 2019, signed by Nana Asante Bediatuo, Executive Secretary of the President, said: "In accordance with Article 4 (1) (a) of Law No. 791 on the authority Ghana tax office, the President of the Republic, in consultation with the State Council, has appointed you Chairman of the Board of the Ghana Tax Authority. "
The correspondence asked Mr. Owusu to confirm his acceptance of the new appointment within 14 days.
S & # 39; s expressing on the renewal of Mr. Owusu's appointment by the President, Professor Gyampo told Samson Lardi Anyenini, at the newsfile of Multi TV's TV based in Accra on Saturday, July 13, 2019 , that the "own answer" of the former DG GMA when Maritime Authority, "were not useful".
"The sarcasm and arrogance displayed, as well as the way he did it, did not help," said Professor Gyampo.
"Again," he noted, "I have a little trouble" with his reappointment, asking, "Is the NPP of the current administration still considered the who has the men to govern? "
"If the party still retains the reputation of having men to govern," Professor Gyampo wondered, "it's a bit difficult for me to see why the same person, 65, is coming back."
As CEO of GMA, Mr Owusu, among others, reportedly used – in accordance with a memo from the Authority signed by Rhoda Atiah – GHS66,835.00 to build a standard high quality hardwood kitchen cabinet with drawers, a Corian worktop and a wall hanging unit and all the necessary accessories.
The Ministry of Transportation also investigated the fact that Mr. Owusu had spent 135,000 GHS at a year-end dinner in 2017, as well as 10,000 GHS for the eight-person lunch during the year. 39; a meeting – services provided by its own hotel, the Luxe Suites.
When the musician turned politician, A Plus, denounced and accused of conflict of interest, Mr. Owusu parried the charges at a press conference during which he characterized the charges as "flagrant" .
In November last year, he told reporters that the media had been malicious and unprofessional in their reporting.
Regarding the charges that he had equipped his new property with eleven air conditioners, Mr. Owusu said: "A problem was also raised, the Director General having eleven air conditioners. That, I consider mediocrity. In a two bedroom house? Where would I put them? ", Adding that:" The places [rooms] I have listed you, [for] each of them to have an air conditioner, it would be 13, then, the eleven are not even enough ".
"By the way, we do not put them all together," he added.
Explaining how the expansion and renovation of the houses began, Mr. Owusu said: "This authority rents apartments, houses, that it is $ 5,000 or whatever, paid over the years by l & # 39; Authority. When I took over this business, I decided to go and sue the Department of Public Works and Housing to see if the Authority could have a residence. In my quest, I was able to secure a property. This property was a two bedroom wooden structure of old colonial style. If you are planning to renovate this structure, you will need to add a memo stating "Renovation of a two-bedroom residence". Even if it becomes 10, the first will not renovate a 10-bedroom house. So, the subject of the 2 bedrooms, that some of you [media] including Mr A Plus, the vigilant citizen, made it all the more as if the Director-General had actually increased a fair amount to make "unhinged hash", as one big television channel said: " Let's bark. " The man at the bar is my friend, I can not imagine when, Mr. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, I will cut 8,000 GHS and you will say that it must be cut before he is my friend. Oh you like it!
"I have to let you know that when I secure the land, normally it has to be done by the department's PWD Prestige, and then it gives it to you in a personal capacity. I wanted it for authority. So, in their attempt to go do the renovation, they did the first phase. The Deputy Minister of Public Works and Housing said, "Look, it will take time to find the money, so if the Authority has money, we will prefer to give you the Bill. of Quantities been designed by PWD Prestige and you would be able to use it and make the building.
"So we took this quantity slip, which, as you can see here, and you can go to PWD, here they are the ones who gave all the quantity list for the first phase, and as and when, they have the second phase and the third phase. When that was submitted to me, I submitted it to the administration and we proceeded to a call for tenders to which three people were invited to do so, namely the following. selective call for tenders.
"The bidding was launched without my participation, rewards were awarded to various things that you still published with the amounts badociated with these people. The bidding process has gone through the administration. The Bill of Quantities was made by [PWD] Prestige. The Director-General could not therefore have influenced the result and given it to my friend, saying, "Increase the money so that, if necessary, I can do what they say" cut in pieces ". I took this from people with disabilities, they were supervised, our listeners were so thorough, they even reviewed all the photos of the construction period, the listeners were there day and night to take pictures construction; and then came out of the building.
"And let me tell you: this building is now composed of four bedrooms of the main structure, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom, a family room, a library and a basement. This is the main structure. We also have a guest house that should suit a general manager, where you can have a guest of your counterparts who can stay, this one is a bedroom, a dining room, a living room and a kitchen . and a porch that has also been erected. And an outbuilding has been developed and a whole grbad floor has been realized with the same amount of SGH1 million.
"We have hired consultants, the management is there, as well as all the people who know the value for money, which is a euphemism. So if you are going to blackmail and say that the Director General has renovated a bedroom that you have not visited, it's amazing how we can kill people before they die.
"In addition, the Director General had eleven air conditioners. That, I consider mediocrity. In a two bedroom house? Where can I put them? The places I listed you, [for] each of them to have an air conditioner, it would be 13, then the eleven are not even enough. By the way, we do not put them all together.
"And if you sit, some general managers are badigned a house and even have a separate guest house for entertainment. If this Director General or any other Director General of the Maritime Authority of Ghana, who oversees the Maritime Authority of Ghana, can not have four or five bedrooms, then I say that it is mediocrity in his mind. We must see big. The plot that I was allotted was an acre. And I was not going to put a two-bedroom [on a one-acre property] and I think that not only when this investment will be made, 20% of my salary or any other salary that will come to take over, 20% will be taken, so over a period he will pay for this stuff, I pay a rent for the structure that I have installed there and I thought you would appreciate even that for the effort to save money ".
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