President of think tank IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Franklin Cudjoe, has counselled governments to stay away from the construction and procurement processes of affordable housing projects.
Mr. Cudjoe advised that, in the future, governments’ role in the provision of affordable houses should be limited to them acquisition of serviced lands for private real estate developers who have the requisite skills and knowledge needed for the construction of such projects.
“Procurement is the biggest opportunity in this town that’s why I do not really want any government appointee who is a Housing Minister to even think of the idea of building affordable housing. That thing should cease.
“Whatever money government wants to spend, use it, open up the country, service lands, let the likes of Patrick and his friends [real estate developers] come and compete. And they’ve done it before. There are just too many examples here, it can be done.”
Franklin Cudjoe, President IMANI-Africa
According to the policy advisor, when government is directly involved in the construction of housing projects, opportunities are created for government officials to take advantage of the State.
Mr. Cudjoe insinuated that governments in the fourth republic have failed to adopt modern technologies in their quest to construct affordable houses and that buttresses his point that, governments should stay off housing projects.
“I mean, I’m shocked from 1998 to 2001 when I learnt land economy, I remember my building technology teachers were telling us how adaptive technology could be used to deploy affordable housing.
“Since we left I haven’t seen any of those technologies deployed, which tells you that when government talks about the marriage between industry and academia sometimes it’s just a fluke, really.”
Franklin Cudjoe, President IMANI-Africa
The Saglemi Housing Project
The Saglemi Housing Project, started by the John Mahama led government, has been left abandoned after the current government discovered that some key contract documents were missing.
The Akufo-Addo government is suspecting a misappropriation of funds in the project, because even the documents available to them appear to have some discrepancies.
Minister for Works and Housing, during President Akufo-Addo’s first tenure as President, Mr. Samuel Atta Akyea, alleged that a sum of $80million was paid as mobilisation fee to the contractors, Construtora OAS Ghana Limited, even though no work was done for the money.
Under the leadership of Atta Akyea, government commenced prosecuting some appointees under the erstwhile Mahama administration who were directly involved in the contractual processes for causing financial loss to the State.
Those facing prosecution are: Alhaji Collins Dauda, Former Minister for Works and Housing; Agyeman-Mensah, another Former Minister for Works and Housing; Alhaji Ziblim Yakubu, the Chief Director of the Ministry from 2009 to 2017; Andrew Clocanas, the Executive Chairman of Construtora OAS, the Brazilian company that constructed the project; Nouvi Tetteh Angelo, the Director of Ridge Management Solutions DWC-LLC, the engineering, procurement and construction subcontractor.
The five accused persons are collectively facing 52 counts of criminal offences, including willfully causing financial loss to the State, and intentionally misapplying public property.
The controversial Saglemi project came to the limelight again when on Sunday, November 13, Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, disclosed that government has decided to sell the housing development project to a private developer.
Asenso-Boakye claimed government’s decision was after it assessed the projects and hence, the decision to sell the project is in the best interest of the State.
“We [government] are allowing for a private sector developer to take up the initiative to build and sell the housing units. A committee will be commissioned to guide the process and ensure transparency in the bidding process.”
Asenso-Boakye, Minister for works and housing
Meanwhile the Minority caucus in Parliament who are opposed to government’s decision to sell the project has served notice to interested private developers, warning them to stay off the project as they may lose their investment should they go ahead to purchase.
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