Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dominic Ayine, has revealed that the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration made an excess payment of $2 million to J.A. Plant Pool, the company contracted under the District Roads Improvement Programme (DRIP). This occurred even though the actual cost of the procured machinery was slightly above $1 million.
Speaking at the Government’s Accountability Series on Wednesday, Dr. Ayine explained: “In the case of DRIP, they were overpaid, that is J.A Plant Pool was overpaid $2 million, the contract sum was $176 million. When we examined the invoices of payment, it was $178 million that was paid so right a way, there was a different of $2 million,” he disclosed at the Government’s Accountability Series on Wednesday.
“We noticed that, the DRIP equipment were over invoice by between 100 to 300 percent,” he added.
In addition, Dr. Ayine disclosed that 190 extra pieces of machinery were imported alongside the DRIP equipment and cleared at the port under the false pretense that they were part of the project. These items were wrongly classified as tax-exempt, resulting in tax evasion estimated at GH₵38.7 million.
The Attorney General confirmed that his office has instructed J.A. Plant Pool to reimburse the state for the overpayment, while the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has been directed to recover the unpaid taxes.
The DRIP initiative, introduced under the Akufo-Addo administration, was designed to accelerate infrastructure development at the district level. As part of the programme, Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies received various heavy-duty machines, including excavators, trucks, tipper trucks, and other road construction equipment.
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