Presidential staffer, Mr. Dennis Miracles Aboagye, has dismissed the claim made by the Former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Stephen Adei, regarding contractors engaging in bribery to secure contracts.
Mr. Aboagye emphasized that the allegation lacks substantiation and is, in fact, false.
He further asserted that the intricate nature of the road contract award process makes it improbable for such bribery allegations to hold any validity.
“He made a specific allegation that must be proven. The roads Minister has been on record several times raising concerns with how technical people even do their work. He complains; that is his job, and that’s the effort he is putting in place to ensure the sector gets what needs to be done, done. That is not the case Professor Adei is making. He is making a false allegation which he cannot prove. When it comes to road construction, and you say the politicians are taking money, he said about one Million Cedis, before the project is awarded; the most effective, efficient, and fair way to establish this is not what you think or what he claims someone has told him.
“Are you aware of the complexities involved in road projects in this country? Are you aware that some of the roads you see are not necessarily awarded even by the Road Ministry? Are you aware of the technicalities involved in the procurement? The people who sit to open the tender? Those who design, those who develop the bill of quantities before you go. Tender opening, are you aware that the Minister does not even sit on the tender committee that sits to award the contracts? So if we want to fix the problem and we decide to jump ahead of the problem with emotions and sentiments because we dislike somebody or something then we muddy the waters and the issues are never resolved.”
Miracle Aboagye
He also urged that allegations should not be made without evidence.
“If you have an allegation that you cannot prove and you are a professor, you don’t say it. To the extent that you say it and say the president should be ashamed when you know you do not have proof or when you know that whoever came to tell you will not be willing to step forward to testify, you don’t say it.”
Miracle Aboagye
Appeal To Contractors For Evidence
Meanwhile, Governance Expert Professor Enoch Antwi has highlighted that he often encounters contractors who approach individuals with public influence, like himself, with allegations of having paid bribes to secure contracts.
However, he emphasized that these contractors consistently fail to furnish any concrete evidence to support their claims. He further revealed that these contractors frequently request anonymity, fearing potential repercussions that could hinder their chances of securing future government contracts.
Professor Antwi earnestly implored the road contractors who disclosed information to Former GIMPA Rector Professor Stephen Adei about alleged bribery payments to provide him with substantial evidence to substantiate their claims.
“The same contractors who went and told Prof Adei and Prof Adei knows he had to cite his sources, [but] individuals will come and tell you something, you ask them to give the evidence but they tell you I can’t give it to you. So he is now alone piper in this situation even though he is fighting a common cause.
“So my advice to the contractors is that if you help Prof Adei by bringing the evidence it is going to help our dispensation. Why? Because in the future you are no longer going to pay even the little bribes that you are paying.”
Professor
He further decried the state of roads in Ghana.
“Look at our roads, sometimes they do it and in six months the road goes off and they will tell you that they have been paying bribes to get it. Once they pay the money, 10 percent, the money left to execute the road project is so small that they cannot do it.”
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