JA Plant Pool overpaid by $2m under DRIP contract — Ayine

Attorney General, Dr Dominic Ayine has revealed that the government has demanded a refund of $2 million from JA Plant Pool Ghana Limited after investigations uncovered financial irregularities in the District Roads Improvement Programme (DRIP) contract.

Speaking at the Government Accountability Series in Accra on Wednesday, 22 October 2025, Dr Ayine said the overpayment emerged during a forensic review of the $176 million contract awarded to the company.

“In the case of DRIP, JA Plant was overpaid by $2 million. The contract sum was $176 million. On the face of the contract, that is the sum that was stated. When we examined the invoices of payments, it was $178 million that was paid. So right away, there was a difference of $2 million. So we asked that the $2 million be paid back by JA Plant Pool,” he disclosed.

Dr Ayine further revealed that the investigation also uncovered tax evasion amounting to GH¢38.7 million, after 190 pieces of equipment were imported and cleared under false tax exemption claims.

“We also realised that 190 pieces of equipment were added and cleared without payment of tax. In other words, they were added to the release as if they were tax exempt,” he said.

“When they did the analysis, following the HS code, it came out that GH¢38.7 million of tax was evaded. So in respect of the two sums, we have made a demand on them to pay that money.”

The Attorney General added that his office has also identified significant over-invoicing of equipment purchased under the programme, with mark-ups ranging between 100 and 300 percent.

“We noticed that the equipment were over-invoiced by between 100–300%. For example, one piece of equipment that cost $40,000 was invoiced at $84,000. That is over 110%,” Dr Ayine explained.

He said a team of investigators is currently conducting a detailed item-by-item review of all equipment supplied under the DRIP contract to build a strong legal case.

“You can imagine all the equipment for all the districts, and we are going through each of them. And in criminal law, charges must be specific, and if you miss the specificity, your case will be thrown out,” he noted.

The revelations form part of a broader accountability drive aimed at retrieving misappropriated funds and holding individuals and companies accountable for financial breaches under previous contracts.