Sammy Gyamfi, National Public Relations Officer of the National Democratic Congress
Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Director of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), claimed that the mobile money interoperability initiative began in 2016 under the leadership of former President John Dramani Mahama.
Mr Sammy Gyamfi claimed that during the NDC/Mahama administration in 2016, a contract was awarded to SIBTON by the Bank of Ghana for this purpose.
Reacting to the recent speech by the 2024 Nuclear Power Plant flagbearer at UPSA, the NDC executive called on Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to provide Ghanaians with truthful information.
In his address on Wednesday, February 7, Dr. Bawumia praised Ghana’s rapid growth in Africa’s mobile money market, attributing this achievement to the Akufo-Addo government’s investments in the sector.
However, Mr Sammy Gyamfi in a press release refuted Dr Bawumia’s statements, accusing the Vice President of canceling a contract given to him by the NDC and then awarding it to a colleague.
Sammy Gyamfi said: “On the contrary, the first MOMO interoperable system contract was awarded to a company known as SIBTON by the Bank of Ghana in 2016 under the visionary NDC/Mahama government. He only came to cancel the Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract and gave a new one to his cronies.
“Bawumia’s claim that the SIBTON contract was inflated by GHS4.6 billion is a lie. It was a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) project. The government was not going to spend a single pesewa on it. Rather, the company Typical user fees are projected to be GHS 4.6 billion over 15 years, including total revenue including set-up and operating costs.
“Even before this BOT interoperability project, Ghanaians could send MOMOs over the network through the TOKEN system provided by the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GhIPSS) Limited. Remember the TOKEN MOMO system? ? Apparently MOMO interoperability was in place even before this government took office. “It had been envisioned and undertaken for a long time. Contracts to that effect had been signed. “We should,” he concluded.
No/AE