News
NBSSI detects 5,200 fraud alerts on CAP
An earlier attempt by the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) to begin disbursement of funds to eligible businesses under government’ Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP) has hit a snag due to fraudulent activities.
Executive Director, Mrs Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, who made the disclosure, said at least 5,200 fraud alerts had been detected on the Board’s online portal dedicated to the programme since it came on stream.
“The online portal has detected 5,200 fraud alerts representing multiple applications with same mobile money or bank account details and we are working to address that to ensure that the right people get the funds,’ she said at a news conference in Accra last Friday.
According to the Executive Director, there have been instances where “people have registered with same mobile money account number for about 100 people which is unacceptable and we are working with KPMG to conduct strong data analysis to detect these fraudulent activities and get the accurate data to commence payment soon.”
The NBSSI had scheduled June 12 to commence disbursement of funds to businesses adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The whole process will be done on technology without any human involvement. So even if you apply on paper we will go into the IT platform to decide if you met the criteria, based on assumptions designed for the technology,” Mrs Yankey-Ayeh had said in a recent media interview.
Mrs Yankey-Ayeh pointed out that investigations were ongoing into the matter and “we have directed some of these issues to the National Security and the Ghana Police Service to help us address them.”
Meanwhile, the Executive Director submitted that as at Thursday, June 18, 2020, more than 450,000 applicants had registered unto the programme with 75 per cent of the number, having successfully completed their applications.
“Applicants who registered via the USSD code represent 58.8 per cent, the remaining 41.2 per cent represents registrations done directly on the web portal.”
As regards gender disaggregation, the Executive Director pointed out that females constitute 66 per cent of applications who requested for 47 per cent of total funds available with the males, representing 34 per cent, requesting 52.6 per cent of total value of funds.
President Akufo-Addo on May 19 launched the CAP business support scheme to provide support to micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs negatively affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Out of the GH¢1.2 billion earmarked for this programme, GH¢600 million will be disbursed as soft loans to MSMEs with up to a one-year moratorium and a two-year repayment period.
The rate of interest on government’s GH¢600 million facility is three per cent.
Additionally, selected participating banks will provide negotiated counterpart funding to the tune of GH¢400 million, making, in all, GH¢1 billion for disbursement under the scheme, expected to attract some 180,000 beneficiaries across the country.
Source: Ghanaian Times
The Second Deputy Minority Whip, Jerry Ahmed Shaib, has defended the conduct of the Minority in Parliament during Tuesday’s chaotic sitting, insisting their actions were to protect what they believe is a violation of parliamentary procedure.
Explaining the incident, he said the Minority was reacting to developments surrounding a letter which allegedly directed that a seat belonging to the MP for Kpandai be declared vacant despite an earlier ruling by the Speaker.
He argued that the Speaker’s ruling should stand unless overturned by a competent court, and described the sudden reversal as shocking and against parliamentary precedent.
Mr Ahmed said the Minority only attempted to make a statement to register their displeasure, but tensions rose when the Majority Leader insisted on responding instead of commenting, which he said was against the rules.
He also denied claims that Minority MPs crossed the aisle, stressing that they remained within their side and only sought the Speaker’s attention.
He further complained that during proceedings, the Mace—the symbol of authority in the House—was not present and Minority microphones were disconnected, making the process one-sided.
He said the caucus intends to continue pushing to ensure that the MP for Kpandai retains his seat, adding that their next steps will be strategic.
By: Jacob Aggrey
President John Mahama has stated that it is too early for anyone to call for the scrapping of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) despite recent controversies surrounding the institution.
He argued that the office remains an important part of Ghana’s fight against corruption.
He explained that government is strengthening anti-corruption bodies such as the Economic and Organised Crime Office and the OSP, noting that the OSP is the only agency with the power to independently prosecute cases without going through the Attorney General.
President Mahama said many people distrust the Attorney General’s office because it is headed by a government minister, and some fear it may be slow to prosecute its own.
He believes an independent body like the OSP offers stronger accountability, regardless of who is involved.
He admitted that citizens want to see more prosecutions and visible results, but urged the public to give the OSP time.
He encouraged the office to speed up its investigations to show that it remains relevant in the fight against corruption.
By: Jacob Aggrey
