In a shocking revelation, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has accused the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and his family of benefiting from overpriced, single-sourced contracts in the country.
The North Tongu Member of Parliament reacting to Dr Bawumia’s recent address, where he pledged to publish details of all public contracts for public scrutiny, strongly asserted that the lack of transparency in publishing contract details has allowed the Vice President and his family and close allies to unduly benefit from non-competitive contracts.
According to Mr Ablakwa, the practice violates the country’s procurement laws, which has severely resulted in a significant financial loss to the country.
“How the Bawumias are Milking Ghana with Overpriced Single-Sourced Contracts After Launching Vicious Attacks on Mahama. When Vice President Bawumia read paragraph 156 at page 63 of his ridiculous driver’s mate address a few days ago, I wondered why the self-proclaimed digitalization champion was not implementing that simple promise but was waiting to do that at an unguaranteed future date”.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
The Ranking Member of the Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee further posited that his findings are supported by a recent report by the Auditor-General, Mr. Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu.
Furthermore, the renowned anti-corruption crusader and good governance advocate noted that according to the Auditor-General’s report, a staggering 87% of cocoa road contracts awarded since 2020 were done through a non-competitive process.
Mr Ablakwa also indicated that some of these contracts were found to have no value for money, with costs inflated up to three times the actual amount.
According to Honorable Ablakwa, the report by the Auditor-General revealed that the Ghana COCOBOD, under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s administration, awarded 266 contracts valued at GHS13 billion, which was almost ten times more than the initially budgeted GHS1.3 billion.
Renege Of Political Promise
Moreover, the North Tongu Member of Parliament, Honorable Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa chastised President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for failing to uphold a pledge he made in 2016 to end the era of sole sourcing, with Vice President Bawumia specifically criticizing the overpricing of contracts through sole sourcing during the previous government’s tenure.
The Honorable Ablakwa further alleged that his parliamentary oversight has uncovered intriguing findings, indicating that Resources Access Limited, a company with familial ties to Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, directly benefited from some allegedly corrupt practices.
He noted that documents from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) reveal that on July 2, 2020, Resources Access Limited, owned by one Abraham Bawumia, who is the Vice President’s brother and Aneta Kaminska Bawumia, was awarded two single-sourced cocoa road contracts valued at a total of GHS83.7 million.
According to Honorable Ablakwa, the details of the contracts include the upgrading of the Effutu – Abrem Agona and Effutu – Sorodofo Feeder Roads project, which is estimated at a cost of GHS54, 262,878.84 and the upgrading of the Kyiboso Hasowodze Bungalow Feeder Roads project, which is also estimated at the cost of GHS29, 468,546.54.
“Who could ever have predicted that after Vice President Bawumia launched his scathing and vicious attacks on President John Mahama, the Bawumia family would one day be caught neck-deep directly benefiting from multiple over-priced, single-sourced, ‘create, loot and share’ schemes?”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
The Honorable Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa while expressing deep concerns about the developments, however, underscored his commitment to ensure that Parliament investigates the contracts that were given to the relatives of the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and to ensure that individuals found guilty are held accountable and reliable.
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