The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, has called for greater transparency from the Ministry of Roads and Highways over claims that more than 400 contracts were awarded through open competitive tendering.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Mr. Braimah said the Roads Minister, Kwame Governs Agbodza, had publicly stated that over 400 contracts were awarded through competitive bidding, a process which by law must be publicly advertised.
“The minister himself said they have awarded over 400 contracts through open competitive tendering. The law says when you are doing open competitive tendering, you must publish it in newspapers,” he stated.
He explained that such notices are typically published in widely circulated national newspapers.
“We all know the national newspapers like the Graphic and the Times. We will start searching from the beginning of last year up to now to see if we can find these publications,” he added.
Mr. Braimah urged the media to independently verify the claims and formally request the relevant documents from the Ministry.
“The media can also follow up and write to the Ministry to request that information, and we will also follow up,” he said.
He further insisted that the Minister must make details of the alleged 400 contracts publicly accessible.
“The Minister needs to make the 400 open competitive tendering contracts available to the public,” he stressed.
Mr. Braimah also raised concerns about the total number of contracts awarded under the Big Push programme, suggesting possible inconsistencies in the figures presented.
“If indeed the 400 contracts are separate from the 107 already made public, then it means the Minister has signed about 507 contracts,” he argued.
According to him, the contracts already disclosed reportedly awarded without competitive tendering amount to about GH₵81 billion, making it necessary for the public to know the cost of the remaining contracts.
“If the 107 contracts cost around GH₵81 billion, then it is important for us to know how much the 400 also cost. It is better that we all know what is happening,” he stated.
Mr. Braimah’s comments come in response to reactions from government officials, including the Roads and Highways Minister, Kwame Governs Agbodza, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board, Sammy Gyamfi, who have defended the award of some contracts through sole sourcing under the Big Push initiative.
Addressing Parliament, Mr. Agbodza described allegations of widespread sole sourcing as misleading, stating that only 44 percent of major contracts were awarded through sole sourcing, while over 400 were procured through open competitive tendering.
ALSO READ:
