The Auditor General through a special audit conducted on Ghana Cocobod has discovered that the company has awarded contracts regarding Ghana Cocobod cocoa road through sole sourcing.
These sole-sourced contracts which amount to 87% of the contract were awarded to individuals close to the government. In 2020, Cocobod awarded an additional road of over 4100 km at a total contract sum of GH₵ 18.2 billion which was also single-sourced.
The Auditor General’s special report also revealed some liabilities regarding the cocoa roads concerning payment of contractors and the poor nature of the roads in certain areas.
Commenting on the state of affairs of the cocoa roads, Mr. Alban Kingston Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament proposed to set up a committee to probe into all issues regarding the cocoa road contracts and the challenges of contractors.
The Speaker of Parliament asked the appropriate committees involved to treat the cocoa road issue as a matter of urgency. He advised that the issue should not be treated lackadaisically as the Parliament tends to treat other issues.
“This Cocobod thing is an inheritance from the colonial masters. The cocoa industry was used for their benefit. We are still continuing that. Can’t we change? It’s sad. I have received a lot of petitions from contractors for no payment of their labor”.
Rt. Honorable Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin
The Auditor General’s report disclosed that out of the 7054 km distance of road contracts awarded, only 1790 km have been completed. This leaves a bit over 5200 km of roads to be constructed.
Furthermore, the report indicated that Ghana Cocobod failed to provide supervisors with resources that would enable them to supervise the road construction projects that the company is undertaking. Cocobod has also terminated about fifty-six contracts concerning the cocoa roads.
The Auditor General’s report also revealed that 87% of the cocoa road contracts were awarded through sole sourcing instead of competitive tendering. The report detailed that the contracts awarded through competitive tendering were reasonably cheaper than the ones awarded through sole sourcing.
Among many contractors that Cocobod sole-sourced the cocoa roads to is Mr. Ibrahim Bawumia, who is the brother of the incumbent Vice President. The report stated that contracts awarded to Mr. Ibrahim Bawumia, through sole sourcing, amounted to a sum of GH₵ 83 billion.
New Procurement Practice Requirements
Meanwhile, the current government while in opposition between 2012 and 2016 has accused the then National Democratic Congress (NDC) led government then, of sole-sourcing and equating the act to stealing.
In the President’s first State of the Nation Address (SONA) in 2017, H.E Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo pledged to eradicate sole sourcing by awarding government contracts through competitive tendering. The President argued then that, sole sourcing over-bloats government budgets.
Accordingly, the Auditor General’s report suggested that Cocobod institutes a proper implementation policy in awarding contracts to contractors. It also advised that the company sticks to its allocated budget in implementing projects.
“Cocobod could have achieved more savings through more effective procurement management practices and better supervision and monitoring to ensure roads were completed within time, quality cost”.
Auditor-General Special Report on Cocobod
The procurement act of Ghana allows for sole sourcing on the basis that the supplier is the only source of the good or service that needs to be procured.
By this, the law makes sole sourcing an exception and competitive tendering the rule. Ironically, the current practices however make sole sourcing the norm and competitive tendering the exception.
Accordingly, the Auditor General report reported that Cocobod has not provided a reason tangible enough for engaging in single-sourced contracts that have bloated the Cocoa roads budget.
Conclusively, while Cocobod’s sole sourcing practice has been a recent occurrence in the government’s procurement practice, the practice has been a recurring phenomenon in government institutions across the board. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has also raised concerns about the increasing practice of sole sourcing in government institutions and the loss this practice incurs on the government.
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