A government software contest worth GH₵184 million (about €12 million) gave its winner a substantial advantage through a test that was not disclosed to other entrants, an investigation by The Plausible Post has found. The Ghana Digital Markets Commission opened a review on 3 November, after the winner’s chief executive described the service at the centre of the test as the project’s “front door”.
Stellara Systems won the 19 September competition to supply permit-processing software to 12 municipal authorities, scoring 91 out of 100. The published rules assigned 10 points to integration with existing services. But scoring sheets for the final, reviewed by this newspaper, show 32 points were tied to compatibility with a digital identity gateway operated by a Stellara subsidiary.
The score behind the win
Fourteen teams entered the competition, which was organised by the fictional Ghana Digital Procurement Office. The rules said judges would assess cost, reliability and integration, but did not name the gateway or disclose that its performance would account for nearly a third of the final score. The sheets show Stellara received full marks on the gateway test; the next-highest team received 11 of the 32 points.
Three contestants told The Plausible Post they first received access to the gateway’s technical specifications on the morning of the final. Stellara had already connected its software to the service through contracts with two local authorities. One competitor, Sienna Yost-Herman, said the test measured “how well you knew one supplier’s system, not whether your software could do the job”.
The test rewarded response times when applications checked a resident’s identity and submitted a permit request. The competition guide described integration as a general category, without identifying the gateway. The procurement office’s published summary did not include the detailed score breakdown; the figures became public after contestants requested their individual results.
Stellara chief executive Janis Kuphal rejected the suggestion that the firm had been favoured. “Our system performed well because we had built and tested a working integration. The same requirements applied to every team,” Kuphal said. The company said it had not helped write the contest rules and would provide information to the regulator.
Regulator examines access
The markets commission’s director, Shaina Johns, said the review would examine whether the gateway was essential to the contract and whether competitors had a fair chance to use it. She said no finding had been made. The procurement office has paused contract negotiations while it considers the scoring complaints; the first software rollout had been scheduled for February.
The episode echoes a wider concern for public technology buyers: a contest can appear open while its technical tests favour a supplier already embedded in government systems. The gateway is used by several local authorities for online services, but the procurement office has not said whether the new permit platform will require it. The commission said it expects to publish its review findings by 15 December.
