A Ghanaian journalist and consumer advocate, Samuel Nii Narku Dowuona, has petitioned the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to freeze and probe a controversial contract awarded by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to Tata Consulting Services from India due to alleged irregularities. According to a petition filed by Dowuona, the contract, meant to implement an Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS) for GRA's Domestic Tax Revenue Division, is fraught with gross irregularities, particularly the processes leading to the award of the contract.In his petition, Dowuona alleges that the GRA still has an existing contract with Axon Information Systems, a Ghanaian company that successfully developed and manages an ITAS system called the Ghana Integrated Tax Management and Information System (GITMIS), signed in January 2024.He argues that despite Axon's proven track record, the GRA, under the leadership of the current Commissioner-General Julie Essiam, signed a new contract with Tata Consulting Services without a competitive procurement process, violating tender protocols.The petition highlights that Axon Information Systems emerged the best candidate for the contract after a competitive bidding process, which saw KPMG review the tender submissions.
Per the KPMG report, Axon presented the lowest financial proposal and was also one of the highest technical evaluation score of over 80%.
However, despite the clear advantage of Axon's bid, the GRA abruptly cancelled the procurement process in August 2023, citing budget cuts.Dowuona asserts that within a month of cancelling the procurement process, GRA directly invited Tata to submit a combined technical and financial proposal, effectively bypassing the competitive process on the blind side of other candidates.
He argues that this was a calculated move to unfairly award Tata the contract on a single-source basis.The petition further raises concerns about the secrecy surrounding the contract with Tata Consulting Services.