Exclusive information available to Awake News indicates that the University of Ghana has been slapped with $160million arbitration fine in London on August 2, 2018.
The ruling of the London arbitration delivers a huge image blow to the University and what could be described as one of the biggest financial loss to the state of Ghana.
The London based Arbitrator in the dispute between the University of Ghana and a project developer generally described as the “Africa integra project” made a definite and binding ruling that dismissed University of Ghana’s two claims of non-enforcement of the agreement and breach in their own processes in awarding the concession for the project.
If our cherished readers can recall, somewhere in 2014, the University of Ghana signed a landmark agreement with Africa Integras at a ceremony at the Great Hall.
The $64million project, which was structured as a 25-year Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT), is the first of its kind with a public university in Africa. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Aryeetey at a ceremony in 2014 confirmed that the University has received final funding approvals to proceed on its anticipated PPP investment with Africa Integras to construct four new academic buildings and 1,000 student hostel beds on the Legon campus.
The project involves the construction of an expanded facility for the College of Humanities, a new College of Education, a new dedicated facility for the College of Basic and Applied Sciences and the Institute of Technology and Applied Science, as well as a new facility for the College of Health Sciences to be located near the new teaching hospital on campus.
Following the change of leadership the University in August 2016, the new administration has decided they were not going to continue with any of the projects initiated by the previous authorities of the University citing alleged corrupt practices in the awards of those contracts.
The new leadership in their bid to associate those projects with corruption tags had made a complaint to the Economic and Organized Crime Office against the project developers and some individuals.
Many observers involved in the arbitration who spoke to Awake News said the arbitration was completely unwarranted and unnecessary.
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