The tugboat allegedly remains unfit for a single voyage.
The Management of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST) is at the center of a brewing scandal involving the rehabilitation of a multimillion-Cedi contract for tugboat at its Akosombo office.
The contract, awarded and paid for, has shown no tangible results since October 2022.
Sources reveal that the details of the project have been referred to the Transition Team for review. Initially planned as a five-month contract, it has now stretched to nearly two years, burning through nearly 6 million Cedis with no clear end in sight.
Despite this colossal expenditure, the tugboat remains unfit for a single voyage. Reports indicate that pressure was mounted by BOST Management, led by one Josiah, to force the boat to move at least once. The intent, insiders claim, is to use this as a defense for the significant amount spent on maintenance in anticipation of potential investigations and prosecutions by the incoming NDC administration for causing financial loss to the state.
A letter signed by Managing Director Edwin Provencal, dated October 14, 2022, and addressed to the Managing Director of M&B Limited, Bernardson A. Akolgo, was sighted by this portal. The letter confirmed the award of the contract for the repair of the tugboat, modification of discharge pipelines, and installation of pumps at Akosombo. The total contract cost was stated as Five Million, Six Hundred and Fifty-Three Thousand, Four Hundred and Fifty-Five Ghana Cedis, Sixty-Two Pesewas (GHS 5,653,455.62), inclusive of all relevant taxes.
The letter further directed the contractor to provide a Performance Security of Five Hundred and Sixty-Five Thousand, Three Hundred and Forty-Five Ghana Cedis, Fifty-Six Pesewas (GHS 565,345.56), representing 10% of the contract sum, and to sign the contract within four days of receipt. A Performance Bond of 10% in the form of a bank guarantee or 30% as an Insurance Bond covering the tenure of the contract was also required.
Insiders allege that, to mask glaring inefficiencies, BOST management is inducing VLTC managers with incentives to assign crew members to the tugboat to simulate its readiness for a voyage. This move, critics assert, is a desperate attempt to conceal the scandal.
Eyewitness accounts paint a damning picture of the project’s progress. Beyond installing non-functional navigational equipment, conducting oil changes, and painting the vessel, no meaningful work has been completed. Alarmingly, the contractor appears to be a phantom entity, with emerging evidence suggesting links to a current senior management figure at BOST.
Staff at the Akosombo site claim no one has ever identified or seen the contractor, fueling allegations that the project is being managed in-house under dubious circumstances. Additionally, a General Manager at BOST is alleged to have personally supplied the installed equipment and logistics for the oil changes, raising serious questions about procurement transparency and accountability.
With millions of taxpayer Cedis wasted and no tangible outcomes, Ghanaians are demanding accountability and calling for an independent investigation into BOST’s management of this botched project.