Sammy Gyamfi, CEO of Ghana GoldBod, has defended the government’s use of sole sourcing for road projects under the Big Push initiative, rejecting claims of abuse or inflated costs.
His comments came in response to concerns raised by The Fourth Estate, which questioned the procurement process for the projects.
In a social media post [X], Mr. Gyamfi argued that the urgency of the projects justified sole sourcing, noting,
“Resorting to the National Competitive Tendering process for the award of these critical road projects would have taken another couple months before the projects could even commence. This could have delayed the completion of most of the projects beyond 2028.”
He emphasized that all sole-sourced contracts had approval from the Public Procurement Authority, were awarded to competent contractors, and underwent audits to ensure value for money.
“In the case of the Big Push road projects, all projects that were awarded through sole sourcing received prior PPA approval as same was justified on grounds of URGENCY. Value for Money audits were conducted. The contracts were not awarded to a select few but rather carefully selected, multiple, competent and experienced contractors with demonstrable capacity to complete the works on time.”
Mr. Gyamfi also clarified that some projects were inherited from the previous administration and not newly awarded, criticizing media reports for including them in the list of current government sole-sourced contracts.
“23 out of 84 Big Push road projects, such as Suame Interchange, Ofankor- Nsawam, Adenta- Dodowa, etc. are inherited road projects that were all awarded by the previous NPP government through sole-sourcing with no dedicated funding. This government has simply novated the projects, maintained the contractors and provided for funding for them under the Big Push policy. The 23 road projects were not re-awarded. Yet, the Fourth Estate has mischievously added all these projects to their list of sole-sourced contracts awarded by this government.”
He dismissed suggestions of cost inflation, insisting, “There is not a scintilla of evidence in the Fourth Estate publication that shows that the use of sole sourcing for the said Big Push road projects was unjustified or that there were any breaches of the law or abuse of the process. Neither was any evidence of the cost of the projects being inflated adduced by the Fourth Estate.”
Mr. Gyamfi stressed that the government has consistently condemned the unjustified use of sole sourcing, while following legal procedures for urgent projects. “The unjustified use and abuse of sole sourcing is what President Mahama and the NDC have condemned.”
