By Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is accusing Vice President and the 2024 flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia of bad faith regarding the country’s reliance on sole-sourcing in contractual agreements.
According to the NDC, this modality has become the norm under the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led administration.
Addressing a cross-section of the media at the NDC’s ‘Moment of Truth series’ held at the party’s headquarters in Accra today Wednesday, August 7, 2024, the National Communication Officer (NCO), Mr. Sammy Gyamfi, recalled statements made by the 2024 flagbearer of the NPP before and during his early days as Vice President. Describing Dr Bawumia’s earlier stance against rampant sole-sourcing as rhetoric.
Mr Gyamfi, while acknowledging that the principle of sole sourcing is not inherently problematic argued that the governing NPP has abused the process blatantly.
The NDC’s NCO maintained that “time has once again exposed the dishonesty and duplicity of Alhaji Bawumia the chronic liar.”
He said Dr Bawumia has superintended the awarding of contracts to his brother and other family members across the country to his family members.
According to him, “he (Bawumia) and his family have become the biggest beneficiaries of dubious and overpriced sole-sourced contracts under this corrupt nation-wrecking NPP government.”
“Several sleazy and overpriced sole-sourced contracts have been awarded to a company called Resource Access Limited, a company owned and run by Bawumia’s blood brother.
This includes the GHS 52.25 million rehabilitation of Sunyani Airport in 2019, which was awarded without any competitive tendering process,” he reiterated.
The NDC believes that this, along with other contracts allegedly given to Dr Bawumia’s relatives, undermines his claim of having the interests of Ghanaians at heart.
Below is the full statement by the National Communication Officer of the NDC.
“UNPACKING THE OVER-PRICED SOLE-SOURCED CONTRACTS AWARDED TO THE BAWUMIAS”.
A MOMENT OF TRUTH PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY SAMMY GYAMFI ESQ., NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS (NDC) ON WEDNESDAY, 7TH AUGUST, 2024.
- Good afternoon to you, distinguished friends from the media. We are grateful to you for honouring our invitation to this important press conference.
- Our dear nation Ghana, finds herself at a defining moment of history. A time that all of us are being called to the rescue, to save what is left of our beloved country after seven and half years of deplorable leadership and mismanagement by the nation-wrecking Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government.
- There is no gainsaying that Ghanaians are experiencing unprecedented levels of hardships today. Indeed, Ghanaians are reeling under excruciating hardships occasioned by economic bankruptcy, an ever-depreciating cedi, ever-soaring food prices, an alarmingly-high cost of living, crippling taxes, an unprecedented high unemployment rate, and the highest youth unemployment rate in the history of the Fourth Republic. All of these factors have conspired to make life unbearable for the citizenry.
- As a result, a vast majority of the Ghanaian people have been plunged into abject poverty and penury. The youth are despondent, and many continue to “jakpa”, a term that describes the mass exodus of our youth out of the country. In fact, many are those who have already lost hope in Ghana, as evidenced by the latest Afrobarometer survey report.
- Yet, amid all this suffering, one thing is thriving – CORRUPTION! “Massive uncontrolled corruption”, as the Catholic Bishops Conference described it, has become the order of the day under the nation-wrecking Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government. The meager resources of the country that ought to have been invested in productive ventures for the benefit of the nation have been hijacked by a few greedy officials of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government and their cronies thereby imposing untold hardships and pain on the masses.
- Ladies and gentlemen of the media, at the heart of this thriving phenomenon of corruption, is the issue of dubious and overpriced sole-sourced contracts which has become a norm under the corrupt Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government. This canker of overpriced sole-sourced contracts, is causing the nation to lose billions of cedis, which could have been invested in productive ventures to create opportunities and prosperity for all Ghanaians. This is the sad situation our dear nation presently finds herself.
- While in opposition, both President Akufo-Addo and Alhaji Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party’s Presidential Candidate for the 2024 elections, condemned the use of sole-sourcing in government procurement. They labelled it as corrupt and vowed never to use it. Ghanaians still recall President Akufo-Addo’s now infamous and dishonest declaration on 23rd August, 2016 that, “the era of sole sourcing will come to an end” under his presidency.
- Alhaji Bawumia on his part accused President Mahama and the NDC of overpricing contracts using sole sourcing. Alhaji Bawumia had this to say on his Twitter handle on 8th September, 2016, “overpricing of contracts through the use of sole sourcing is very typical of this John Mahama NDC government”.
- Upon coming into government in 2017, this same Alhaji Bawumia was reported by online news portal Ghanaweb to have said that his government “will abort rampant sole sourcing”.
- Also, on 29th May, 2017, Alhaji Bawumia was again cited by Starrfm.com.gh to have admonished appointees of his government not to abuse sole-sourcing. Subsequently, on 31st December, 2018, while touting so-called 40 “fulfilled promises” of his government, Alhaji Bawumia had this to say, “We promised to move away from a predominance of sole sourcing to tendering in procurement, and we have delivered”.
- Friends from the media, as it is often said, time reveals the true intentions of a man. Time has once again exposed the dishonesty and duplicity of the chronic liar, Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia on the issue of sole sourcing. Today, we shall demonstrate to you, how Bawumia never meant a single thing he said against sole sourcing while in opposition, and how he and his family have become the biggest beneficiaries of dubious and overpriced sole-sourced contracts under this corrupt, nation-wrecking NPP government.
- Ladies and gentlemen, it will interest you to know, that contrary to his holier-than-thou rhetorics on the subject of sole sourcing in government procurement, Bawumia today is the biggest promoter and beneficiary of sole sourcing. As we speak, sole sourcing has become the norm and the most preferred method of procurement for several dubious contracts awarded to relatives and cronies of the Vice President, Alhaji Bawumia.
- A number of sleazy and overpriced sole-sourced contracts have been awarded to Resource Access Limited, a company owned and run by Bawumia’s blood brother called Abraham Bawumia and his wife, Kaminska Bawumia.
- First on the list, is a sole-sourced contract awarded for Phase One of the rehabilitation of the Sunyani Airport at a cost of a whopping GHS52.25 million to Resource Access Limited. For emphasis, this juicy contract was doled out to Bawumia’s brother in the year 2019 without any transparent or competitive process.
- Friends from the media, when one compares the cost of the mundane works that have been carried out at the Sunyani Airport by Bawumia’s brother company, to the brand-new Ho airport built from scratch by the visionary nation-builder, H.E. John Dramani Mahama, it becomes clear that indeed, Ghanaians have been shortchanged by Alhaji Bawumia and his brother.
- The brand-new Ho Airport was built at a cost of $25 million. This airport boasts of a brand new 1,900 meters long and 30 meters wide Runway, a New Ultramodern Terminal with VIP and VVIP facility that can process about 400 passengers a day, a Brand-New Apron for two aircrafts and 9-kilometre networks of new roads around the airport. On the other hand, after spending a colossal GHS52.25 million (that is, about half of the cost of the brand new Ho airport), the rehabilitated Sunyani airport can only boast of a Refurbished 120 meters long and 30 meters wide Runway, Minimal renovation of the existing Terminal Building to process 100 passengers per hour/day, Upgrade (patching of pot holes) of existing apron and Resurfacing of internal roads.
- Apart from the overpriced Sunyani Airport Phase One rehabilitation project, two juicy cocoa road projects were also awarded to Bawumia’s brother’s company, Resource Access Limited through sole-sourcing at an inflated cumulative cost of GHS83 million in the year 2020. The said cocoa roads projects are;
- Upgrading of Assin Akropong – Odomasi – Asibrem(22.18km) road at a contract value of GHS54,263,718.64
- Upgrading of Kyibosohasowodze bungalow feeder road (14.50km) at a contract value of GHS29,468,546.54
- Ladies and gentlemen of the media, the Auditor-General has found that, these single-sourced cocoa road contracts were overpriced and awarded in breach of the Public Procurement Law, thus, causing the nation huge financial losses. Indeed, paragraph 65 of a Performance Audit Report by the Auditor-General on the Construction of Cocoa Roads revealed that, “COCOBOD did not rigorously analyse its procurement options for value for money but sought approval from PPA for single sourcing and restricted tendering, thus procuring contracts which were up to three times more expensive than they could have obtained through competitive tendering.”
- Friends from the media, the inflated sole-sourced sweetheart contracts awarded to the Bawumias are not just in the area of cocoa roads. We have also intercepted payment vouchers which show that between March 3, 2023, and March 5, 2024, Resources Access Limited owned by the Bawumias was paid a staggering GHS83,036,639 by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government for the award of two single-sourced road projects. These contracts are;
- Rehabilitation of Selected Roads in Teshie Camp, Southern Command, Military Academy Training School Roads (23.45km & 55,000 M2)
- Partial Reconstruction of Selected Roads in Accra – LOT 1 (44.49KM); Construction of Sunyani By-Pass Outer Ring from Kumasi Berekum Road.
- Friends from the media, the total contract value of just the five (5) sole-sourced contracts awarded to Bawumia’s brother’s company alone amounts to a colossal GHS218 million (equivalent to 2.1 trillion old Ghana Cedis). Can you imagine the huge savings the State would have made, if these projects had at least been awarded through a competitive process?
- My brothers and sisters, the above-enumerated facts, badly expose the dishonesty of Alhaji Bawumia on the subject of corruption. Who would have thought, that the man who preached vociferously against sole sourcing in opposition, will today be the biggest enabler and promoter of stinky sole-sourced and overpriced contracts to his own family relatives and cronies.
- Alhaji Bawumia has proven time and again that he is a chronic liar and therefore cannot be trusted. It is clear from the foregoing facts, that Bawumia is one of the key architects of the ongoing state capture and corruption that is destroying our nation. He is neck deep in the rampant corruption and nepotism that has engulfed this nation-wrecking NPP government. He cannot therefore be trusted to fight the canker of corruption, as he himself is an integral part of the free-for-all grabbing of state resources and the unprecedented state capture we are currently witnessing.
- It therefore goes without saying, that a vote for Alhaji Bawumia is a vote to cover-up the corrupt deeds of this nation-wrecking NPP government and shield wrongdoers including Bawumia and his corrupt mentor, Akufo-Addo, from accountability. Bawumia cannot simply fight corruption. On the contrary, a vote for H.E. John Dramani Mahama, is a vote for CHANGE- a change that will ensure genuine accountability and justice.
- As you may be aware, H.E. John Dramani Mahama has promised that when elected, he will confront the canker of corruption head-on, by ensuring that the sword of accountability cuts both ways. He has promised to hold members of this corrupt Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government accountable for all their corrupt acts.
- Fellow countrymen and women, you can be rest assured, that under the next NDC/Mahama government these sleazy, illegal and inflated sole sourced contracts will be investigated and the “agyapadie” thieves prosecuted. More importantly, stolen funds will be retrieved for the state for development and all those found culpable shall be dealt with in accordance with law. This same level of accountability will be extended to members of a future NDC government, no matter whose ox is gored.
- My brothers and sisters, John Mahama is the man with the proven track-record and political will to fight corruption. As President, he demonstrated this commitment when under very difficult circumstances, he allowed unimpeded investigations into the GYEEDA scandal, leading eventually to the conviction of an appointee of his own government and the retrieval of about GHS50 million for the State.
- As President, he ensured the investigation and retrieval of funds involved in the bus branding scandal, as well as investigations and prosecution of culprits involved in the National Service scandal, among others. So high was the standard of accountability under the erstwhile NDC/Mahama government, that a Deputy Minister who simply expressed a mere wish to make $1 million was sacked.
- This is the character of the man the NDC is presenting to you. A man who has promised to set up an Independent Value for Money office to scrutinize all government procurements above a $5 million threshold or as shall be recommended by Parliament. A man who has promised to run the leanest and cleanest government in the history of Ghana and ban future appointees of his government, from acquiring state assets.
- My brothers and sisters, President Mahama is a man of impeccable and unblemished integrity. He is certainly the visionary and incorruptible leader we can trust to rescue our dear nation from the abyss and lead us to build the Ghana we all want:
A Ghana where corrupt officials are punished and stolen funds are retrieved for nation building:
A Ghana that is self-reliant, especially in food, because it prioritizes the modernization of agriculture and the promotion of agribusiness;
A Ghana that has a 24-hour economy that offers decent well-paying jobs to its teeming unemployed youth;
A Ghana that has a National Women’s Development Bank with a goal to empower a minimum of one million women throughout the country within the short to medium term;
A Ghana where one million young people are trained in coding and other IT modules for sustainable employment;
A Ghana that has the leanest and cleanest government in history; and a Ghana where ostentation and waste is eschewed and state resources are utilized judiciously for the benefit of the people and not a select few.
- Ladies and gentlemen, the time for CHANGE is NOW! The choice is yours to make. Vote for change. Vote for John Mahama and the NDC to RESET Ghana and build the Ghana we all want.
Thank you for your attention.
SIGNED.
SAMMY GYAMFI ESQ.
NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
