The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has made a startling allegation against the government, claiming that two lucrative cocoa road projects were awarded to a company owned by the Vice President’s brother in 2020. According to Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Officer of the NDC, the projects were awarded to Resource Access Limited through sole-sourcing, bypassing the competitive bidding process.
The two projects in question are the upgrading of the Assin Akropong – Odomasi – Asibrem road and the upgrading of the Kyibosohasowodze bungalow feeder road. Gyamfi revealed that the contract value for the Assin Akropong – Odomasi – Asibrem road was GH₵54,263,718.64, while the Kyibosohasowodze bungalow feeder road was valued at GH₵29,468,546.54.
The cumulative cost of the two projects is a staggering GH₵83 million, which Gyamfi claims is inflated. He argued that the single-sourced cocoa road projects were found by the Auditor-General to be “overpriced and awarded in breach of the Public Procurement Law, thus, causing the nation huge financial losses.”
Gyamfi cited a Performance Audit Report by the Auditor-General, which revealed that COCOBOD did not rigorously analyze its procurement options for value for money. Instead, COCOBOD sought approval from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) for single sourcing and restricted tendering, resulting in contracts that were up to three times more expensive than they could have obtained through competitive tendering.
Gyamfi’s allegations suggest a clear case of cronyism and favoritism, where the government awarded lucrative contracts to a company owned by the Vice President’s brother without following due process. The NDC’s claims have raised serious questions about the government’s commitment to transparency and accountability in the award of contracts.
