The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has raised serious concerns over the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation’s handling of a controversial e-government infrastructure contract, after auditors revealed that more than $6 million in advance payments due the state remain outstanding.
At a public hearing in Parliament, chaired by Atiwa East MP, Abena Osei-Asare, the committee found that officials from the Ministry, together with the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) provided unsatisfactory answers about why the monies had not been collected and what steps were being taken to retrieve them.
The matter relates to a contract originally signed between the Government of Ghana and Lebara Ghana Limited, later transferred to Smart Infraco Limited, for the management and commercialisation of excess capacity within Ghana’s e-government infrastructure, including the national data centre, fibre optic network, and LTE sites.
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The Infraction
According to the Auditor-General’s report, the contract required Smart Infraco to pay the government $2 million in 2020 and $1 million annually from 2021 to 2024, totalling $6 million in advances.
None of these payments, however, have been received by the state.
PAC members expressed frustration that such a substantial amount could be left unrecovered at a time when the country is struggling with high debt levels and tight fiscal space.
Manhyia North MP, Akwasi Konadu pressed the officials on why the ministry had failed to enforce the contract: “This contract has been running since 2020. Year after year, payments have not been made. Why has the ministry not ensured recovery of the $6 million owed the state?”
Responses
In response, Dr. Mark Oliver Kevor, Acting Director-General of NITA, admitted that “for now, none or nothing has been recovered.”
He explained that since assuming office in March 2025, his agency had written to Smart Infraco demanding payment, but the company denied owing the sums in question.
The matter, he said, had been referred to the Ministry, which subsequently sought the advice of the Attorney-General.
“We have had engagements, including a joint management meeting with Smart Infraco, but we are at a dead end. That is why the Ministry has taken over the matter,” Dr. Kevor added.
Deputy Minister for Communications, Mohammed Adams Sukparu, confirmed that the issue had been escalated to the Attorney-General.
He told the committee that despite “several physical meetings” with the company, nothing fruitful had come out, making legal recourse the only option left.
PAC Pushes Back
The committee, however, was unimpressed with these explanations. Ranking Member, Samuel Atta Mills (Komenda) noted that the Auditor-General’s report clearly directed the Chief Director of the Ministry to take steps to recover the monies, yet the Chief Director was absent from the hearing.
“Clerk, let’s flag this one. We will invite the Chief Director and Head of Finance to come and meet this Committee, and they need to bring all relevant documents from the time of the payments,” Atta Mills said.
Other members questioned why only new appointees were sent to answer for contracts signed years earlier, while senior officials who had overseen the process were “indisposed.”
The committee expressed suspicion that the Ministry was deliberately shielding certain individuals from accountability.
Abena Osei-Asare, the PAC Chair, stressed that Parliament would not allow such infractions to go unresolved: “This committee is focused on ensuring value for every cedi approved by Parliament. A contract of this nature cannot run from 2020 to 2024, with no payments made and no accountability.”
The PAC also interrogated the purpose of the contract, asking why government had chosen to hand over commercialisation of excess digital infrastructure to a private company. Officials explained that the arrangement was intended to generate revenue for the state by leasing unused data capacity to private clients.
But committee members were skeptical, pointing out that despite this promise, government had instead been saddled with arrears and legal wrangling.
