If AMERI deal stinks, go to court – Minority dares Majority

The Minority in Parliament has challenged the Majority to head to court if it believes the $510m AMERI Power deal signed in 2015 was fraudulent.

The opposition lawmakers said they will support moves to review the contract if their political opponents are able to produce documents that point to fraud.

Until proven otherwise, former Deputy Power Minister, John Jinapor said the Minority has nothing against the power deal which the Majority insists is over-priced by $150m.

“If there is fraud it vitiates the contract. Show us the document [and] we will support [attempts to review the deal],” he told Evans Mensah on Joy FM’s Top Story Wednesday.

Minority members on Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee boycotted meeting held to reconsider the $510 million AMERI deal.

Chairman of the Committee, Emmanuel Gyamfi explained the National Democratic Congress (NDC) lawmakers stated they did not want to be associated with processes to rescind the deal.

Adansi Asokwa MP, Kwabena Tahir Hammond filed the motion to have the deal rescinded because of fresh information he has gathered.

(1) AMERI did not provide fast-track equipment contrary to the agreement. They assigned their interest to a subsidiary known as AMERI Equipment which was registered 13 days after the agreement had been signed with Ghana.

(2) AMERI Equipment (the subsidiary) did not undertake the construction but assigned this to a Turkish Company called PPR without the consent of the government of Ghana as required.

(3) A Turkish company, PPR, bore all financial risk, raised all capital and was paid with money government of Ghana paid AMERI.

But the Minority said it has no problem with the decision by AMERI to engage the services of third parties in the implementation of the power deal.

Mr Jinapor said the Dubai firm is a developer and the work of developers is to source equipment for the completion of contracts, adding AMERI can subcontract parts of the work provided the agreement is not breached.

"I have not seen any document that suggest that AMERI has given the whole contract to another contractor," he said.