Since President Mahama regained the Presidency, many Ghanaians have been cheering for the success of his reset agenda. Whenever there have been challenges to it, I, like many Ghanaians, have given him and the NDC government the benefit of the doubt.
This sole sourcing scandal involving the Roads Minister, Governs Agbodza has dented my confidence significantly. And it should affect yours too. According to the 4th estate, out of 107 road contracts reviewed, 81 or about three out of every four were awarded by non-competitive tendering.
On the face of it, that should worry every Ghanaian. Indeed, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in opposition did an excellent job educating us about the evils of sole-sourcing using the NPP cocoa roads as a textbook case.
Led by the National Communications Officer now Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (Goldbod) Sammy Gyamfi, they spoke eloquently about possible corruption and price inflation.
In 2025, President Mahama re-emphasized the evils of sole-sourcing using a poultry bid as his example. He deplored how ” government bleeds with everybody cutting their pound of flesh”.
The NDC and President Mahama were right. The World Bank procurement frame emphasizes ” value-for-money, efficiency, integrity and transparency to ensure project funds are used for intended purposes “.
The Government Contracts Regulations of Canada states, ” One of the fundamental principles of federal construction is openness and the practice of providing potential suppliers with opportunities to submit bids for government contracts.
For this reason, when departments choose a non-competitive procurement strategy, it must be fully justified and recorded.” In the US, “full and open competition is the default acquisition process, and federal regulations specify the circumstances under which a procurement agency is allowed to limit competition. ”
Indeed, these points are fully echoed in our PPA( Act 663 as amended by Act 914). Our procurement law requires sole-sourcing to be approved by the PPA board in advance and be for well-justified, exceptional situations.
Indeed, a 2022 review by Bosto et al of 187 countries showed that strict laws on tendering led to positive outcomes in low resource countries, with prices decreasing by about 6%. So when this scandal broke, I expected members of government and the NDC to be as scandalized as I was.
They were not. From now Minister for Government Communications and Abura Asebu Kwamankese Felix Ofosu Kwakye through Sammy Gyamfi to the President, there was a resort to legalistic explanations that lacked the moral clarity and resonance they had in opposition.
If this scandal will not lead to firings, resignations or suspensions, what will? If the reset will tolerate this level of malfeasance, what will it NOT tolerate? Does the Minister have written justification for each of the sole-sourced contracts?
Does he have permissions from PPA? Sadly, this case gives me the sad impression that despite the good intentions of the President, there are higher, more powerful forces at work who are fighting the reset and working to entrench or perpetuate the “loot and share” that characterized the NADAA government.
It is obvious that many of the NPP members expressing outrage are only shedding crocodile tears. As someone told me perceptively,” the NPP members expressing anger at the corruption under NADAA are outraged, not at the corruption that went on but their exclusion from it”.
Mr. President, if this scandal does not move you to crack the whip on some person or entity, you can mark this scandal as the moment your RESET DIED! If you do nothing, you would be like former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who would have also done nothing!
Parliament too, can do some pre-emptive executive oversight here. Mr. Speaker, this is an opportunity to put the tenets of your admirable National Integrity Initiative on display.
Parliament should not always wait for the Auditor General to unearth corruption before acting. The NLC didn’t wait for an audit report before demanding Gen Ankrah’s resignation.
Save the reset! The NDC founder defined his career on probity and accountability! Where are the priests who prayed for the reset? Where are those who marched against NADAA’s corruption?
Let’s save the RESET! Long live Ghana.
