Duncan Amoah Proposes Technical Chamber for State Contracts
The Executive Director of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah, has proposed the creation of a second parliamentary chamber comprising technical experts to strengthen scrutiny of major government contracts and public spending.
He said such a body would provide Parliament with specialised expertise when considering complex agreements that could commit the state to significant financial obligations.
The proposal follows renewed public attention on Ghana’s agreement with AKSA Energy after Ghanaian businessman Asante Berko was convicted in the United States over his involvement in a bribery scheme connected to the development and financing of the AKSA power plant in Ghana.
The AKSA agreement has since raised questions about the cost of the project, the terms under which it was negotiated and the level of due diligence conducted before the contract received parliamentary approval.
Speaking in a media interview monitored by the New Finder, Mr Amoah said the matter should lead to a broader review of Ghana’s procurement and parliamentary oversight processes rather than being treated solely as a political dispute.
He questioned whether Parliament has adequate time and technical capacity to thoroughly assess complex international agreements before they are approved.
Mr Amoah cited the AKSA agreement as an example, noting that the contract was referred to Parliament’s Energy Committee, considered within a day and subsequently presented to the full House for approval.
“You wonder what kind of work really would go into this,” he said.
According to him, contracts involving substantial public funds can contain hundreds of pages of technical, legal and financial provisions that require specialised expertise to properly evaluate.
He therefore proposed the establishment of a technical chamber made up of professionals who could independently examine major state agreements and provide Parliament with detailed assessments before final decisions are taken.
“If I would even propose, I would ask that we have a second house made up of purely technical people,” Mr Amoah said.
He suggested that the proposed body could draw expertise from academics, engineers and other professionals with relevant technical and financial backgrounds.
Such a mechanism, he argued, would enable the state to identify potential financial, technical and contractual risks at an earlier stage and strengthen the quality of parliamentary decisions on major public projects.
Mr Amoah said the objective should be to complement, rather than replace, the existing parliamentary process by giving lawmakers access to independent technical analysis before the government assumes significant long-term financial commitments.
