Ghana: Ghana Gas Denies Misleading Report On Gas Pipeline Project Phase II Contract

Ghana’s national gas aggregator, Ghana Gas, has refuted media reports that its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ben K.D Asante, is under pressure to sign the contract for phase II of the Gas Pipeline Project (GPP2) in favour of a company owned by someone close to the presidency.

The company described the report as misleading.

Contrary to the claims in the media, Ghana Gas explained in a statement issued by the Head of Corporate Communications, Ernest Kofi Owusu- Bempeh Bonsu , that the award of the contract for the GPP2 project to the selected tenderer, went through a rigorous tender process and complied strictly with Act 663 of the Public Procurement Act 2003, as amended, and all relevant approval obtained.

To make the tender process even clearer, the company said following the approval by the Board of Directors of Ghana Gas in 2021 to commence the GPP2 project, management applied and sought approval from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to adopt the Restricted Tender Procurement method under section 38 (a) of Act 663 of the GPP2 as amended for EPCC and financing of the GPP2 project.

By the Restricted Tender, Procurement Method, the company said tenders were submitted by four firms and upon evaluation of their Technical and Financial bids, the Entity Tender Committee selected the tenderer it awarded the contract following concurrent approval received from the Central  Tender  Review Committee (CTRC) of the Ministry of Finance.

“Accordingly, Ghana Gas and the selected tenderer have signed a Project Implementation Agreement to outline the terms and conditions for the EPCC project. The selected tenderer has been incorporated.

A special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to undertake the project and Ghana Gas is currently in negotiation with the SPV to execute the relevant agreements for the implementation of the project,” the company stated.

The company said its Chief Executive Officer has not been under any external pressure to sign any deal, thus, describing the reports as mischievous and urged the media to be circumspect by cross-checking facts before publishing stories in order not to harm people’s hard-earned reputation.

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com