Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has released some shocking details of the District Road Improvement Project (DRIP).
The anti-corruption crusader in his latest exposé revealed the massive amount government–which is almost bankrupt–has spent on procuring the equipment for DRIP.
Read Okudzeto’s post below
THE DISTURBING SECRETS AKUFO-ADDO & BAWUMIA DO NOT WANT GHANAIANS TO KNOW ABOUT DRIP
Extremely troubling details are emerging from a special ongoing parliamentary scrutiny into government’s controversial and opaque District Road Improvement Project (DRIP).
President Akufo-Addo launched the DRIP initiative on 31st July, 2024 describing it as a significant step towards transforming Ghana’s road infrastructure.
Vice President Bawumia has made DRIP a major talking point of his rather uninspiring driver’s mate campaigns claiming that DRIP was entirely his idea and that he would not share credit with any other person or institution.
A video making the rounds has Vice President Bawumia claiming to have chaired the Critical Roads Committee which birthed the DRIP idea and that they did not seek parliamentary approval to implement DRIP.
In a considerable number of constituencies across the country, NPP parliamentary candidates and MMDCEs have hijacked the equipment affixing NPP posters and using them for cheap partisan vote-seeking rendezvous.
The DRIP war appears to have reached a crescendo in constituencies such as Awutu Senya West where the NDC Communications Officer and two other NDC members were recently arrested and remanded in police custody for removing posters of Akufo-Addo’s Presidential Spokesperson and NPP Parliamentary Candidate, Eugene Arhin which had been splashed all over the DRIP equipment.
Our thorough parliamentary oversight into government’s DRIP initiative after Hon. Mahama Ayariga and I filed a number of RTI requests, together with further analysis we have conducted from multiple impeccable sources have led us to the following incontrovertible findings:
1. The cost of the DRIP equipment to Ghanaian taxpayers is an unbelievable colossal amount of US$178,704,739.50. This translates to a staggering GHS2.8billion. (DACF RTI response is attached)
2. Worryingly, the District Assemblies Common Fund Secretariat informs us that this US$178.7million (GHS2.8billion) figure will rise further when training, recruitments, PPEs and other procurements are finalized;
3. The sole funding source for DRIP is the District Assemblies Common Fund and the gigantic nature of the liability means that the fund would be crippled in the next couple of years;
4. The US$178.7million (GHS2.8billion) contract was not awarded competitively. It was yet another single-sourced sweetheart deal as confirmed by the DACF in their formal response;
5. In opposition, Akufo-Addo and Bawumia loudly and consistently pledged to end the era of single-sourced contracts, however, their tenure has witnessed the most blatant and reckless abuse of single-sourcing;
6. The US$178.7million (GHS2.8billion) single-sourced sweetheart deal was awarded to J.A. Plantpool of the Zoomlion conglomerate;
7. Rigorous parliamentary scrutiny further reveals that there has been no value for money audit for this transaction in flagrant violation of the PFMA;
8. Despite Bawumia’s boastful claims, it turns out government has paid just 15% of the cost of the DRIP equipment. In response to our RTI request on how much government has paid for the equipment, the DACF revealed that only the 15% advance mobilization of US$26,805,710.93 has been paid;
9. From the payment schedule as demanded from the District Assembly Common Fund Secretariat through our RTI requests, government has negotiated to pay J.A. Plantpool over a 9-month period. All indications are that it is the next NDC government which would be required to pay a far larger share from January 7, 2025;
10. So far, the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government has been unable to keep to its agreed monthly payment schedule to J.A. Plantpool after paying the initial 15%. If this trend continues with barely two months to go before the December 7 elections, the next NDC government led by President Mahama will be required to pay the remaining 85%;
