The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament is recommending disciplinary actions, including possible contempt charges, against the CEO of the National Information Technology Agency (NITA), Richard Okyere-Fosu, for failing to provide documentation justifying a $17 million contract.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, NITA awarded the contract to Smart Infraco Limited to construct 300 workstations across the country to help curb the spread of the virus.

However, the Public Accounts Committee's report states that no workstations were built, despite the full payment being made.

Speaking to JoyNews, the Chairman of the Committee, James Avedzi, explained that NITA's management had ignored all related correspondence, prompting the committee to demand accountability.

Mr Avedzi noted that NITA claimed to have spent about $17 million under the direction of the Ministry of Communications to provide workstations allowing civil servants to work from home during the pandemic.

“This issue came up when we were dealing with the COVID report. So we needed more information to be able to establish the authenticity of that transaction. The NITA, I invited them they refused to come,” he said.

He added that NITA initially appeared before the committee, but during questioning, it became clear that additional information was needed to determine whether the services were provided, where civil servants utilised them, and if the money was actually spent.

When asked about the Minister of Communications' response to the issue, given that NITA falls under the Ministry’s oversight, Mr Avedzi stated that the Minister has not appeared before the committee to provide any explanation.

“So for my committee, what we're going to do is to report on this to Parliament that we have invited NITA, through the Ministry of Communication to appear before the committee, but they refused. 

“And for this Parliament to take this decision, whether to sigh them for contempt or not, that is something that we're going to do,” he said.

Commenting on the committee’s investigative powers, the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee acknowledged that while the committee may not have full authority to enforce certain penalties, it can still verify if the $17 million was spent on tangible outcomes.

“The workstations were not provided because that is one of the information that we wanted. They said they provided 300 workstations across the country and can't point to even one. So that is why they are not able to even come back to the committee with the information that we wanted,” he added.