Bright Simons is honourary Vice President of Imani Africa
• Government paid $6 million for architectural works on the Agenda 111 project
• Monies allocated for fighting COVID-19 were used to pay the contractor, Adjaye Associates
• The above claims were made by Bright Simons, Honourary VP of Imani Africa
Bright Simons has alleged that government paid $6 million for the architectural designs for its Agenda 111 project which was launched last week by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
According to the Honourary Vice President of Imani Africa and founder of mPedigree, the source of the funds were specifically from monies set aside to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
It emerged recently that government had handed the architectural aspect of the project to internationally acclaimed Ghanaian architect David Adjaye, a decision that has drawn the ire of local architects.
“Following the protest by some Ghanaian architects about the hiring of David Adjaye to design 111 clinics for Ghana Govt, I took a quick look. The $6 million for the designs came from COVID funds. I also learnt that masks; sanitisers for students 2 stay in sch cost the Govt $100m,” he posted an August 26, 2021 tweet.
Government has confirmed the initial release of some 600 million cedis (i.e. 100 million dollars) for the project as captured in the mid-year budget presented by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
Speaking about the allocation which the Minority in Parliament protested strongly and called for an audit into, deputy Finance Minister, John Kumah said their concerns was much ado about nothing.
He provided evidence through a Controller and Accountant General’s Department document in a Joy News interview last Sunday showing that the full 600 million allocation remained intact as at August 19.
At the time of filing this report, GhanaWeb was yet to get responses to enquiries about how much government spent on architectural works on the project.
Following the protest by some Ghanaian architects about the hiring of David Adjaye to design 111 clinics for Gh Govt, I took a quick look. The $6 million for the designs came from COVID funds. I also learnt that masks & sanitisers for students 2 stay in sch cost the Govt $100m.
— Bright Simons (@BBSimons) August 26, 2021