Minority accuses government of bloating cost of cocoa roads

• Kwame Agbodza has accused the NPP of inflating cost on cocoa roads

• He made this comment after the Agric minister stated that 12,000 kilometres of cocoa roads costing GH₵13.6 billion

• But the minister indicated that the contract was awarded fairly

Minority Spokesperson on Roads, Kwame Agbodza has accused the New Patriotic Party government of inflating the cost of cocoa roads.

According to the Minority in Parliament, the government bloated the cost of roads after the Agriculture Minister stated that 12,000 kilometres of cocoa roads costing GH₵13.6 billion have been completed since 2019.

But answering questions on the floor of Parliament, the Agric Minister, Owusu Afriyie Akoto, noted that the mode of awarding contracts was fair and transparent.

“Mr Speaker, under the current administration, 286 cocoa roads contract with a total length of 4465.89 kilometres have been completed for construction since 2019 at the cost of GH₵13.6 billion. The entire review process and project preparations were done upon several engagements and considerations with the legacy group.”

However, according to Kwame Agbodza, the cost of cocoa roads does not give value to money. He also claimed that the NPP government awarded contracts based on sole sourcing.

He said, “Under the NDC, 2,900 kilometres of those roads cost GH₵ 5.1 billion. The question we should be asking is why project costs in this country went up so astronomically under the NPP. Out of 286 projects, [a] whopping 1077 were awarded on sole sourcing. This is a government you can never trust. They tell you to look up, you should be looking down.”