Audio By Carbonatix
Minority in Parliament is fighting off claims of wrongdoing against former President John Mahama in the awarding of road contracts during his tenure.
Ranking Member on Parliament’s Transport Committee Kwame Agbadza Governs has dared government to make public its audit report on the issues.
“There is no evidence that there was any wrongdoing in cocoa roads under Mahama… There is nothing proving that any of the procurement under even sole-sourcing was done wrongly because Section 40 was adhered to,” he told Evans Mensah.
Former President John Dramani Mahama earlier described as unjustifiable the move by the Akufo-Addo administration to abandon the cocoa roads project upon assumption of office.
The NPP at a news conference on Monday, however, provided some further information to support government’s decision to hold on to the infrastructural projects.
NPP’s Director of Communications, Yaw Buaben Asamoa explained that “Cocoa roads contracts awarded by the previous government, constituting 229 projects, amounted to some ¢5.1 billion.
"This was at a time when funds available to pay for road construction in total was only ¢1.7 billion. Specifically, for cocoa roads, the approved annual mounts averaged ¢500 million for the Cocobod Infrastructural Development Trust Fund for the entire five year period for the programme.”
Mr Buaben Asamoa indicated that the suspension of the projects “allowed for a re-scoping and proper alignment of funds as well as open competitive bidding processes towards the award of new cocoa roads contracts.”
This assertion was also backed by the CEO of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) Joseph Boahen Aidoo on Joy FM’s Top Story.
But the NDC wants these allegations to be taken with a pinch of salt.
“If you’re looking for a government that is unable to be straight with the people, you stop cocoa roads and the roads deteriorate, you are not able to publish the report, yet you went doing this. Today a kilometre of Enchi-Elubo road of 71km will be $160 million?” said Kwame Agbodza Governs.
According to him, the inability of government to publish the audit report detailing the findings makes goes a long way to buttress the NDC’s claim of the process being a needless venture.
“Four years after the announcement of an audit into cocoa roads, the government of President Akufo-Addo can’t point you to a website or a location and they are now asking you to go and apply. That is a novelty,” he added.
He believes government has deliberately resumed the constructing the roads a few months to the election for political gains.
Meanwhile, the COCOBOD boss indicated that the details of the audit report cannot be made public.
He, however, added that one would have to go through 'processes' in order to acquire a copy.
Latest Stories
-
NPP executives petition regional leadership to annul regional leadership election
9 minutes -
5 arrested for posing as military personnel to attack miners in Ashanti Region
16 minutes -
Ghanaian automotive engineer Ing. Ebenezer Kwadjo Dankyi honoured at Africa–UK Trade and Investment Summit
17 minutes -
‘Where is the presumption of innocence?’ – Tuah-Yeboah on Partey visa refusal
23 minutes -
GFA President and Ambassador Smith meet top police command in Providence ahead of Ghana’s World Cup opener
41 minutes -
Nothing stops OSP from pursuing Ghana case despite Ofori-Atta’s permanent residency request – Tuah-Yeboah
44 minutes -
Thousands of Ghanaian pupils attend schools near toxic sites, study finds
44 minutes -
Say no to single life
53 minutes -
Accra Institute of Technology matriculates students for 2025/2026 academic year
58 minutes -
Foresters demand arrest and prosecution after violent attack on Babatokuma Forestry Commission checkpoint
1 hour -
GoldBod, Armed Forces and Forestry Commission launch national land reclamation project
1 hour -
Ghana Boundary Commission launches African Border Day activities with water project in Bawku West
1 hour -
Mfantsiman Old Girls’ Association to hold nationwide health walk on June 27
1 hour -
Ghana, Burkina Faso launch fresh push to reaffirm shared border
1 hour -
Ghana urged to use data science, AI to solve Ghana’s perennial flooding problem
1 hour