Ursula Owusu-Ekuful committed perjury; I have evidence – Sam George claims

Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam George, says he will apply to Parliament to summon Communications Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful before the House for allegedly committing perjury. He claimed to have gathered evidence suggesting the Minister lied on oath when she appeared before Parliament to answer questions on the 89 million-dollar controversial KelniGVG deal. “I will be putting before the speaker the requisite motion to bring the minister before the House for perjury, and I will be supporting it with evidence, documentary evidence, not just in this Kelni case,” Mr. George said on Sunrise morning show on 3FM Wednesday. He added that “in the coming days, there’ll be some interesting drama in parliament. Though the minister may have told a lie in parliament, we would get their understanding, and that is going to further question the validity and certainty of many of the things she said.” According to Sam George, due diligence was not done in the contract which sought to enable KelniGVG help government to retrieve revenue from mobile network operators. In his estimation, the minister of communication did not answer any fundamental question that was raised when she appeared before the house, and that she left the MPs with more questions unanswered. “The question as to whether it has been a due diligent carried out [sic], the minister stated emphatically that all the four companies that were shortlisted for the restrictive tendering had their facilities inspected by staff GRA and the NCA; that is untrue”, he stated. The deal, which will see KelniGVG operate a common platform, would among other things monitor in real time, the activities of telecom companies to ensure that government is not shortchanged in taxes. But IMANI and other telecom experts have raised a lot of questions about the contract, citing possible case of corruption, particularly on claims that the company has started receiving payment when its has not started offering its services. IMANI argued in its criticisms that the contract is needless, dubious and does not pass value for money test, adding Kelni-GVG does not have a good reputation to be awarded such contract. On May 31, Communications Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful told parliament the contract rejected claims of corruption, indicating that due processes were followed in the award of the contract. Contrary to the criticism, she contended that the contract had passed value for money test. Read: Apprehension over Kelni-GVG totally unnecessary – Ursula defends deal Meanwhile the Human Rights Court on July 3 ordered the ministry of communications to within seven days make available all documents related to the award of the KelniGVG contract to pressure group, Citizen Ghana Movement and two others, Sara Asafu Adjaye and Maximus Amertogoh . Commenting on the decision, Sam George said the ruling was commendable. “I believe that this ruling is a step in the right direction; it is good for our democracy, and it will allow us scrutinize in detail the official document that was signed, and allow us determine if there has been any irregularity,” he said By Delphina Abbey|3news.com|Ghana]]>