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NDC MPs want probe into Addison committee for accepting freebies

The minority said the committee breached the constitutional obligation when it accepted ‘freebies’ from a company it was tasked to investigate

Former deputy Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson

According to the Minority, the Addison Committee placed itself in a situation of conflict of interest which is a clear violation of the Constitution.

The minority at a press conference on the first 100 days of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in office addressed by former deputy Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson, said the Addison committee's per diem and shopping were fully paid by AMERI.

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Revelations by a 17-member Committee set up by the energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko to investigate the AMERI deal chaired by Phillip Addison, after its investigations disclosed that it had discovered many lapses in the contract, which was worth $510 million.

The report stated that the erstwhile administration fraudulently paid an extra $150 million in the power plant deal.

According to the report, although the contractor, PPR, financed and built the plant at the cost of $360 million, AMERI, which secured the deal requested payment of $510 million from government.

Member of Parliament for Pru East, Kwabena Donkor, who was Power Minister at the time the contract was entered into was not pleased with the findings of the Committee and waged a campaign designed to discredit the report.

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The minority said the committee breached the constitutional obligation when it accepted ‘freebies’ from a company it was tasked to investigate.

"It is undoubtedly true that the Addison Committee is a ministerial committee and therefore, a public body. The Committee was under constitutional obligation not to place itself in a situation of conflict of interest. However, as stated above, the committee blazingly breached this constitutional obligation when it accepted the above-mentioned ‘freebies’ from a company it was tasked to investigate.

"Given the public embarrassment of allowing a private entity to bear the cost of the work of the committee or public body, this constitutional breach must be properly investigated and the guilty members of the committee should be appropriately sanctioned," Cassiel Ato Forson added.

Read the full report here: Full report on $150m fraudulent AMERI deal

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