Think-tank Strategic Thinkers Network (STRANEK) has lauded a move by government to look into the procedures that led to the award of an original $34 million contract by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) for a software overhaul of its system.
The award to Perfect Business Systems and Silverlake Consortium of Malaysia has generated controversy as the Operational Business Suite (OBS) software has not worked since its procurement while the contract sum has ballooned to $72 million.
In a release on Friday, STRANEK expressed the conviction that “if the proper channels were followed in the award of that contract, then an investigation will go a long way to allay fears of the general public and improve on the confidence and trust Ghanaians must have in the administration of public funds”.
It said, however, that if “underhand dealings” are found out in the award of the contract, a clear signal will be sent that “corruption will no longer be tolerated in this country”.
It called for diligent work from the investigative bodies not to see their work as a partisan action “but would rather work in the larger public interest and elicit the facts so that our country can continue building systems that will protect our public purse and accelerate our pace of development”.
STRANEK, as a result, called for other probes into circumstances that led to the disposal of contaminated fuel by BOST, sources of funding relating to Ghana @ 60 celebrations, “the missing funds at EOCO, the management/mismanagement processes that led to the collapse of UT and Capital banks and issues surrounding expenditure meant for the control of recent army worm infestation”.
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