The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, has challenged the Ministry of Roads and Highways to publish the full list of road projects it claims were awarded through competitive tendering, saying the government’s defence of its procurement practices is “embarrassing and disappointing.”
The challenge follows comments by Minister of State for Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu, who at the Government Accountability Series in Accra on Monday, June 15, rejected allegations by The Fourth Estate and the MFWA that excessive sole-sourcing under the Big Push road infrastructure programme had breached procurement laws.
According to the minister, 1,301 of the 1,441 road projects awarded by the Ministry of Roads and Highways in 2025 and 2026, representing 90.28 percent, were awarded through open competitive tendering.
Braimah disputed those figures in an interview on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News, arguing that the government was inflating its numbers by bundling minor contracts with major infrastructure projects to obscure the picture.
“I am challenging the Ministry of Roads to publish the full list of the 1,000-plus projects that they claim they have awarded and let us see whether that would amount to anywhere close to the amount being discussed,” he said.
“We are talking about projects that are hundreds of millions of cedis — not contracts for road markings, clearing of road medians or filling potholes. If you add all those smaller contracts and say you have awarded more than 1,000 projects, that is a different matter,” he added.
The Fourth Estate’s investigation, which examined 107 Big Push contracts awarded between August 2025 and February 2026, found that 81 of them, about 76 percent, were awarded through sole-sourcing. Braimah maintained that the findings were based on official records and deserved serious consideration rather than dismissal.
“I’ve read the government’s response, and if it is a true reflection of what the minister said, then I think it is quite embarrassing and very disappointing,” he said.
ALSO READ:
GES interdicts Bole SHS teacher over alleged sexual misconduct with student
Ghanaian Students in UK demand immediate payment of scholarship arrears
It’s too sensitive a stage to abandon him – Atta Akyea on why he took over Wontumi’s case
