More evidence of inflated contracts

MORE evidence of corruption is emerging under the Mills-Mahama administration regarding the outrageous inflation of contract sums, mostly being undertaken by cronies of the government.

In spite of this, some government officials, led by Baba Jamal, a Deputy Minister of Information, are engaged in what the NPP describes as “shameless attempts” to downplay with barefaced lies its call on the Economic and Organised Crimes Office “to investigate the unprecedented culture of corruption in the award and costing of contracts since the National Democratic Congress took office in 2009.”

According to a report by the Ghana News Agency published in the Wednesday, April, 2011 edition of the state-owned Daily Graphic, 20-seater toilet facilities being constructed at Salamba and Lamakara-Zongo in the Tamale Metropolis are costing the nation a sum of GHC 112,000 each.

Again, a 12-unit classroom block being constructed for the Queen Elizabeth Day Nursery and a 3-unit classroom block with a six-seater KVIP for the St Josephs JHS, all in the Tamale Central, are costing the nation GHC 417,000 and GHC 228,000 respectively. THE New Patriotic Party Wednesday called on the Economic and Organised Crimes Office to investigate, what it described as,“the ridiculous and outrageous over-pricing of contracts under the government of Prof. J.E.A. Mills.”

A release signed by the party's General Secretary, Kwadwo “Sir John” Owusu-Afriyie, noted that “naked corruption” had got so out of hand under the Mills-Mahama maladministration that Ghana risked bankruptcy.

In calling for criminal investigations in the award of contracts, the NPP said that the average cost of building a typical six-unit classroom block in the country had shot up by 150% in just two years of President Mills coming into office.

In a desperate attempt to justify the inflated contracts, a Deputy Minister of Information, Baba Jamal was all over on radio, claiming that the NDC had added more facilities to the construction of school projects, which had led to the 150% increase in contract price.

When asked to list those additional facilities that had led to the outrageous increase in contract prices, the Deputy Minister ended up mentioning Libraries, Offices, Rest Rooms and Storerooms.

But in a swift response, the NPP has reminded Baba Jamal and his ilk that the facilities he mentioned as new have always been among the components of any basic six-unit classroom block project.

“The Deputy Minister's false claim was only manufactured to deceive Ghanaians, whose only crime is to call for probity and accountability in the use of their financial resources by the Government. No new component has been added by the NDC to require an additional GH¢180,000 or so inflation in the construction cost of a 6-unit classroom block. The components have not changed; it is only the cost that has changed under the NDC,” a statement issued and signed by Curtis Perry K. Okudzeto, Deputy Communication Director of NPP, insisted.

“We wish to set the records straight on the matter regarding the cost and building plans for basic schools in Ghana. The components of a standard 6 Classroom Unit has always been as follows: 6 Classrooms, a Head-teacher's Office and Store, a General Store, a Library and Teachers Rest Room,” the statement explained.

According to the NPP, the maximum cost of such project in 2008 was GH¢78,000. The other components, in addition to the above, are a toilet and urinal, constructed separately at the maximum cost of GH¢10,000. Thus, under the NPP, the highest, acceptable estimate for the construction of a basic six-unit classroom block anywhere in Ghana was GH¢88,000.

“By 2010, this had shot up to GH¢260,000 in some cases, more than 150% rise, in spite of the acclaimed single digit inflation achievements of the Mills-Mahama government. On top of that, over 90% of these contracts were awarded through sole-sourcing, in flagrant abuse of the Public Procurement Act,” the statement added.

The statement repeated the NPP's call on the EOCO to investigate this matter while urging the media “to further investigate these alarming instances of naked corruption under President J. E. A Mills, since the lies, incompetence and corruption of the NDC are impoverishing Ghanaians.