The construction of the Ghana Revenue Authority's (GRA) main office building at Kanda, Accra, has been the subject of a preliminary inquiry by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
The probe is the result of a petition that was submitted by the Movement for Truth and Accountability, a pressure organisation in Accra, requesting that the OSP look into allegations of corruption involving some of the GRA's top executives.
The Special Prosecutor acknowledged receiving the group's complaint against the GRA Head Office project in a letter that was signed by Kissi Agyebeng and stated, "The OSP will begin an inquiry into the subject if I find the complaint to be within the scope of the Office. You could get a call asking you to help the Office with the investigation more.
In a recent news conference, the anti-corruption pressure group expressed their concern that GRA is using part of the funds they may raise for projects that are in no way beneficial to the country.
The Movement claims that the upper management of GRA hired Devtraco Company to build GRA's 14-story headquarters in the Airport Residential Area. Later, the headquarters were transferred to Kanda, where they were scaled down to 7 stories near the Kanda Post Office.
In 2020, mobilisation fees of over GH 74 million were paid, but there was no site handover of paperwork from Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, the land's owners, to GRA.
"The location we're discussing is near to the administrative centre. The Board and top management were aware that the National Security would not approve the construction of a 7-story building there. This is due to the fact that although this 7-storey structure would be taller than the presidential building, payments to the contractors and consultants for the 7-storey building have already been made.
"We then learned that the seven-story building had been downsized to four stories, which also required remodelling and further consulting fees. Why? We are interested in learning what happened to the GH74 million intended for the seven-story skyscraper.
"On September 10, 2021, GBC Union held a press conference to voice its opposition to GRA's land acquisition. The GBC Union made it plain during the aforementioned news conference that they would not accept the repossession of the property. Why shouldn't GRA build their new headquarters on a GRA property next to the Foreign Affairs Ministry in the Airport Residential Area, was their query. Why should they construct the structure on GBC property?
Our research has shown that GRA has transferred a portion of the aforementioned land to an estate developer.
In addition, "Another interesting development we have uncovered is that a land at Cantonments near the Chinese Embassy owned by GRA has also been given to this said Estate Developer for free," the Movement wants GRA to clarify whether the land was the land bought by this said Estate Developer or it was given to him for free. Why? Is public land currently being distributed to individuals?
The Ghana Revenue Authority has stated that if the new head office project is successful, it will save GH4 million in annual rent for head office workers.
Within two years, the project—whose projected cost was GH491 million—had to be finished.