Ablakwa Turns To Finance Ministry: MP Demands Clarity On Dealings With Gabby In GH¢187.3m "Kitchen Scandal"

• The North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has demanded a response from the finance ministry on what he calls the "kitchen scandal"
• Ablkawa has claimed there is a plot by the state to pay GH¢187.3 million to a company being represented by Gabby Otchere-Darko's law firm
• The MP accused the finance ministry of indulging threats from Otchere-Darko despite arguments against the payment

The North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has called out the finance ministry over its silence over the GH¢187 million West Blue deal, which he has called the "kitchen scandal".

In comments on social media, Ablakwa called on the ministry to come clean on its engagements with NPP stalwart Gabby Otchere-Darko in the matter.

Ablakwa last week released details claiming that Otchere-Darko, a cousin of the president, was trying to illegally take GH¢187.3 from state coffers.

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Otchere-Darko's law firm, Africa Legal Associates was representing West Blue, a company contracted to provide a National Single Window System in 2015.

The then-opposition NPP had raised concerns about the deal at the time.

But Ablakwa concluded that when the NPP assumed power in 2017, it changed its stance on the deal after Otchere-Darko's law firm started providing legal services for West Blue.

He now believes the finance ministry is bowing to pressure from Otchere-Darko despite a report noting that the West Blue deal would not offer value for money.

"The Ministry must also explain why they were pressurising GRA at Gabby’s insistence when the Ministry of Finance after the Value for Money Assessment Report... terminated the West Blue contract on December 31, 2018, after renegotiating the contract price downwards," he added.

Ablakwa also said the finance ministry needed to justify Otchere-Darko's demand for GH¢187.3 million.

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He maintains that there is a grand scheme to "deny the Ghanaian people a staggering GHS187.3 million of our taxes."

"The Ministry of Finance belongs to the people of Ghana and they must be accountable to us," the MP stressed.

Otchere-Darko responds to Ablakwa

YEN.com.gh reported that Otchere-Darko responded to the allegations saying they were spurious.

He claimed that the money West Blue was trying to reclaim only represented arrears owed by the finance ministry and Ghana Revenue Authority for work done under the National Single Window and Integrated Risk Management System Contract in August 2015.

Otchere-Darko accused of renegotiating Ameri deal

YEN.com.gh also reported in a separate story that former energy minister Boakye Agyarko claimed Otchere-Darko interfered with the controversial Ameri deal.

Agyarko accused Otchere-Darko of renegotiating the Ameri deal on the blind side of the mandated committee.

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The former Energy Minister said Akufo-Addo was aware of Otchere-Darko's alleged interference in the renegotiation.

Source: YEN.com.gh