Former Works and Housing Minister, Samuel Atta Akyea, has pledged to push for a parliamentary investigation into the lack of progress on the Pwalugu Dam Project since its commencement in November 2019.
Mr. Atta Akyea expressed concern, like many Ghanaians, over the allocation of $12 million to the project without any visible results.
He emphasized the importance of Parliament demanding answers from the contractor, stating that it would be more productive than politicizing the issue.
“The first point of the engagement is to bring the contructor, maybe with the consultant as well, and then we begin to grill the contractor that having received $12 million, if there’s documentary evidence to that effect, how did you apply it. Why have you abandoned it? Sometimes, we colour everything as political. But some contractors too can be very funny.
“They’ll receive the money and then probably they’ll abandon the project. I am not saying that is what the contractor has done, but let’s probe into what has happened and the first person we should engage is the contractor. Because the allegation is that it is not a politician who is a beneficiary of a million dollars, but a contractor,” he said on Monday.
He added, “Let’s find out why has it not taken off. If it is somebody’s ineptitude, we will find out. If it is a defalcation of public funds, we will find out. And then we will be sure that this is the reason why a major promise of this government has not taken off.”
Yapei-Kusawgu legislator John Jinapor has raised concerns over a project in the Talensi District earmarked for construction by the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which has not seen any development despite the NPP having just a few months left in its tenure.
During a media briefing at the site this week, Mr Jinapor disclosed that approximately $12 million had been invested in the project, yet there is nothing to show for it.
He noted that the contractor is missing, and parts of the site have been converted into farming areas by locals.
On April 8, 2024, before the Public Accounts Committee, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, was unable to justify the $11.9 million paid to MS Power China International Group Limited for the Pwalugu Irrigation Project.
According to Samuel Atta-Mills, MP for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Constituency in the Central Region, no work had been done on the site.
The PAC demanded documentation from the Bank of Ghana to further investigate these transactions.
The Bank of Ghana eventually addressed concerns about the disbursement of $12 million for the Pwalugu Irrigation Project, despite the limited visible progress.
The Central Bank clarified that the payment to the contractors, MS Power China International Group Limited, was made based on government authorization, and therefore, it could not provide additional information.
Bernard Otabil, the Director of Communication at the Bank of Ghana, explained in an exclusive interview with Citi News that the Bank’s role as custodian of government accounts requires it to execute authorized transactions within its mandate.
“We are the Central Bank, we are actually the chief cashiers of the government and we also hold all governments accounts. So, we would act on instructions that have been given to us. Once that approval has been sought and the project is started, then you would also have the role of the ministry of finance at some point, coming in to also look at what has been submitted and whether it is actually in line with what has been submitted with the contract that has been solely specified and when satisfied with the supporting documents that need to be presented.”
“But finally, you will also have the Controller and Accountant General coming in and making that authorization for payment to be made and that comes to us.”
“We will then go ahead to make the payment if the account is fully funded and therefore there will not be any form of disclosure on our part because it is the same. It is not different from any of the banking services that you are very much used to. In our unique position, we deal with the government and most of all the MDAs, but largely we are on the government’s side, we are the bankers of the government. The government withdraws on its own account, let’s make that clear and nobody can issue a cheque on anybody’s account.”