BoG: We did not breach procurement laws in building new head office

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has refuted claims suggesting that it breached the procurement laws in selecting firms to construct its new head office at Ridge in Accra.

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, had alleged that the central bank breached the procurement laws.

“The BoG’s unacceptable use of the Restricted Tendering Method amounts to a blatant violation of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) as amended in Act 914. Section 38 of Act 663 provides a limited scope for the use of Restricted Tendering in circumstances where goods, services or works are available only from a limited number of suppliers or contractors,” Ablakwa said.

“From the intercepted documents, the BoG handpicked the following companies: i) Messrs. WBHO Ghana Limited, ii) Messrs. Man Enterprise, iii) Messrs. DeSimone Limited, iv) Messrs. Ronesans Holdings and v) Messrs. Goldkey Properties,” he added.

However, the director of research at BoG, Philip Abradu-Otoo, said the bank followed due process, adding that it will soon come out with full details to back its claims.

“I don’t think the BoG has broken any public procurement law,” Abradu-Otoo said. “I think the necessary public procurements were obtained at every stage of the project.”

“The project started before COVID-19 pandemic began, and the necessary appropriation has been made over the past years when the Bank of Ghana made significant profits,” he told Accra-based Joy FM.

“The quest for this new head office started in 2012 or even earlier. The full details of the component of this specialised central bank headquarters which is in line with international standard will be made public soon,” Abradu-Otoo said.

Listen to Dr Philip Abradu-Otoo in the attached audio clip below:

A structural integrity assessment conducted by the BoG revealed that the current BoG Head Office building, built by the Nkrumah Government in the early 1960s, is no longer fit for purpose and could not stand any major earth tremors.

The outcome of the structural integrity work was that the main building does not satisfy the full complement of excess strength required for a building to be considered safe for usage.

The building also does not have the required strength to withstand the expected imposed significant earthquake loads that would be expected to occur in the Accra area.

Based on the above, and looking at the strategic objective of positioning Ghana as the financial hub of the subregion, with prospects of a potential Headquarters for a future regional Central Bank,

The board and management of the Bank considered a new Head Office building as the most important priority project to support the operational efficiency of the Bank, and also position the Bank of Ghana in a very good position to be the host of the regional Central Bank as we currently host the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) of the sub region.