A rural market project that the Akufo-Addo government supposedly undertook at Otu Kwadjo, a town in the Nsawam Adoagyir constituency in the Eastern Region was found to be non-existent when inspectors visited the town to appraise themselves of the project.
This is according to a report by the national broadsheet, Daily Graphic.
According to the report, the inspectors had been from the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) which is mandated with oversight on accountability for how Ghana’s oil money is spent.
PIAC went to Otu-Kwadjo to ascertain the existence of the project because GH¢190,707 out of the total project budget was sourced from the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA).
However, when they got to the location on February 11, 2022, the market and accessories including a borehole and storage facility did not exist in the town even though the Ministry of Finance had captured the project.
According to the Daily Graphic, The contract was awarded through the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives (MSDI) to Basham Company Limited (BCL) on January 29, 2019, and was expected to be completed after six months.
At Kojo, the PIAC Inspection team along with members of the Otu-Kwadjo Municipal Assembly encountered a market project but it is not clear if that is what the Ministry of Finance has described.
This is because, unlike the GH¢920,354 market project, this one does not have borehole and storage facility accessories.
Graphic reports Alhaji Suleman Anderson, a member of PIAC team as expressing disappointment in the development.
“We took pains to go to Otu-Kwadjo. When we went there, we could not trace any project of such nature, we could not find the market or boreholes. What we have found with regards to the market project at Otu-Kwadjo or Kojo Electoral Area is disappointing….”
Meanwhile, he is said to have promised that a report will be made available to parliament and the presidency over the issue.