– Another Monumental Taxpayer Robbery Under Akufo-Addo’s Watch Uncovered
Intelligence desk
260 computers ordered for Ghanaian youth none delivered. Instead, former GDCL bosses signed fake papers, vendor walked away with millions.
It is the kind of scandal that has become painfully familiar to Ghanaians: public funds vanish, officials sign false documents, and the taxpayer is left holding an empty bag. But this time, the audacity is breathtaking.
A staggering One Million, Three Hundred and Twenty Thousand, Five Hundred and Seventy-Five Ghana Cedis (GHC 1,320,575) of public money was paid for 260 laptops that never existed. The computers were meant to equip young Ghanaians under a national digital skills training programme. Instead, the cash disappeared into the accounts of a company called Jofasm Limited and senior officials of Ghana Digital Centres Limited (GDCL) signed papers certifying that the laptops had been received.
This is not a story of administrative error. It is a story of grand larceny, committed from the inside, with the full weight of official authority. And it is yet another piece of evidence of how officials of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government abused their offices, looting the public till at the expense of desperate, jobless youth.
According to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter, the fraudulent transaction was processed on 21st August 2023 while the NPP was still firmly in power. A cheque (number PruB 789977) was drawn on a Prudential Bank account belonging to the Accra Digital Centre, a facility under GDCL. The payee: Jofasm Limited.
The invoice, dated 2nd August 2023, claimed the company would supply 260 Intel Core i3 laptops (512GB HDD, 4GB RAM, 15.6-inch screen) at a unit price of GHC 5,230. The total before tax adjustments was GHC 1,359,800.
But here is where the story turns from incompetence to conspiracy. Sources say the transaction moved through the organisation with unusual smoothness. A store receipt voucher was completed and signed, certifying that the laptops had been received into official stores. An official receipt was issued on Jofasm’s own letterhead, complete with a Ghana Revenue Authority VAT Flat Rate Scheme invoice.
On paper, the procurement was clean. In reality, according to insiders, not a single laptop ever crossed the threshold of GDCL.
Two names keep emerging from the shadows of this scandal: Mr Kwadwo Baah Agyemang, the former Chief Executive Officer of GDCL, and Mr Aloysis Adjetey, a former Board Member. Sources close to the investigation allege that these two men, both appointees of the then-ruling NPP, were the principal architects of the arrangement.
They had the authority to approve major procurements. And according to those same sources, they used that authority to facilitate a contract they knew would not be honoured.
“They signed off on ghost laptops,” a source fumed. “The money was paid. The vendor walked away. And the youth of Ghana got nothing.”
The fraud might have remained buried forever; ghost assets can sit on ledgers for years. But then came a change of management. When Dzifa Gunu assumed office as the new CEO, one of his first acts was to commission a comprehensive internal audit.
The IT Department and Audit Department were tasked with an independent review of all assets and financial records.
What they found was damning. The paperwork said 260 laptops were in inventory. The shelves said otherwise. Not a single machine.
“The audit findings were unambiguous,” one source familiar with the review told The New Republic. “There were signed documents, a payment voucher, a receipt, a GRA invoice everything looked proper from the outside. But the laptops simply were not there. It was deliberate.”
The findings were immediately referred to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO). Both agencies opened formal investigations.
After months of pressure, GDCL’s new leadership made a pragmatic decision: give Jofasm Limited a chance to fulfil the original contract by supplying the laptops rather than repaying the cash. On 30th March 2026, Jofasm arrived at GDCL’s premises accompanied by police officers, carrying a consignment.
The GDCL IT Department conducted a full technical assessment on 31st March. Of the ninety-seven (97) laptops presented, only eighty-three (83) could be functionally verified. Fourteen (14) could not be accounted for at all. Of those 83, thirteen (13) would not even switch on.
And every single machine that could be assessed was confirmed to be refurbished, second-hand junk. Not one was new. The processors were below the contracted Intel Core i5 eighth-generation standard. Storage was old HDD rather than SSD. The machines lagged even during basic boot operations.
“These were not the laptops in the contract,” one source said. “They were not even close.”
GDCL paid for 260 new laptops. It was handed 97 second-hand ones, of which 13 were dead and 14 missing. The consignment was rejected in full.
Sources say the investigations by CID and EOCO have been decisive in forcing Jofasm to respond at all. Without them, the vendor would have continued to stonewall.
“It is because of the CID and EOCO that we are even at this point,” one source said. “They kept the pressure on. That work has potentially saved GDCL and the Ghanaian taxpayer a very significant amount of money.”
Legal proceedings are at an advanced stage. GDCL has indicated it will not consider the matter settled until the full contract value is recovered and those responsible are held criminally accountable. But many Ghanaians are asking: under the previous NPP government, how many such scandals went unpunished?
For the young Ghanaians who were meant to sit in front of those 260 laptops – to learn digital skills that could lift them out of poverty this is not a story about spreadsheets or invoices. It is a story about stolen hope.
The machines were never a line item. They were supposed to be tools in someone’s hands. Instead, those hands remain empty, while the hands of NPP officials and their crony vendors remain full of taxpayers’ money.
Another day, another scandal. Will there ever be accountability?