Vincent Ekow Assafuah
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, has called for the immediate removal of the Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Christopher Boadi Mensah, over what he describes as persistent failures in transparency, procurement breaches, and the alleged misuse of pension funds.
Addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, Mr. Assafuah said his demand follows what he termed unsatisfactory and evasive responses by the NPRA to concerns he had earlier raised about the management of pension resources.
According to him, the Authority’s reaction to his allegations, including claims that they were “false and misleading,” failed to address the substance of the issues.
Central to his concerns is the refusal of the NPRA to honour a Right to Information (RTI) request he submitted on March 17, 2026, seeking detailed data on pension fund management.
He argued that the Authority’s reliance on non-binding international principles to deny the request undermines Ghana’s RTI law and raises serious accountability concerns.Women in PR
Mr. Assafuah further alleged that about GH¢30 million of pension contributors’ funds has been spent within a year through what he described as “needless sole-sourced procurements.”
He stressed that sole sourcing, which should be used only under exceptional circumstances, appears to have become routine at the Authority.
To support this claim, the MP cited a board-approved procurement decision granting the NPRA authority to single-source the purchase of multiple vehicles from a private company.
According to him, the approval, issued under Section 40(1)(b) of the Public Procurement Act, covered a contract valued at over GH¢17.2 million and $160,000 for a fleet including Toyota Land Cruisers, Prados, Nissan vehicles, and others.
He noted that the Board had earlier flagged the cost of at least one vehicle as excessive before revising it downward, raising further questions about pricing and value for money.
He argued that the scale and frequency of such sole-sourced contracts point to a troubling pattern of procurement practices that risk undermining transparency and competitive tendering.
He also cited a GH¢4.2 million consultancy arrangement involving a former CEO, Kofi Anokye Owusu-Darko, which he said raises issues of value for money and potential conflict of interest.
Mr. Assafuah further questioned a proposed vehicle procurement deal valued at over GH¢17 million and $160,000, indicating that available records show some vehicles have already been acquired under circumstances that raise concerns about transparency and asset ownership.
On the NPRA’s head office project, Mr. Assafuah disputed the Authority’s denial of a GH¢700 million exposure, insisting that critical questions remain unanswered regarding whether pension funds are being used to finance the project and under what terms.
The MP also criticised the cost of a foreign training programme at Bentley University in the United States of America, which he claimed involved nearly GH¢10 million for a two-week in-person component, describing it as excessive and poorly prioritised.
Additionally, he raised concerns about alleged politically motivated staff transfers costing close to GH¢1 million, as well as the refusal by the Authority to disclose details of the CEO’s salary under the RTI framework.
Mr. Assafuah further cited what he described as irregular promotions within the Authority, pointing to the rapid elevation of a contract staff member to a senior management role within two months as evidence of favouritism and governance lapses.
He intimated that the pattern of “selective responses, strategic omissions, and reluctance to disclose information” poses a threat to the integrity of Ghana’s pension system.Women in PR
“In the interest of public trust, institutional integrity, and the protection of Ghanaian workers’ pensions, the CEO must be removed,” he stated.
By Ernest Kofi Adu
Tags: Christopher Boadi Mensah, general news, National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Vincent Ekow Assafuah
