NDC is stealing in the name of the poor – Sir John - NDC is stealing in the name of the poor – Sir John

The issue of sole-sourcing where contract figures are often over-bloated has been topical, particularly under the current NDC administration. Under normal circumstances, government contracts, per the procurement law, are supposed to be taken through open tender process and subjected to value for money audit before execution.

But under the current Mahama government, this laid-down procedure has always been shoved aside and contracts awarded without recourse to due diligence. These contracts often go to friends and family members who often do not even have the requisite know-how to carry through with the job. This has resulted in instances where contracts have been awarded and abandoned, midway, and because these awardees happen to be friends and family members of His Royal Highness Dramani, no efforts are made to hold them to account.

Ladies and gentlemen of the press. I want you to just focus on one such contract by a public institution that is meant to regulate and give consumers protection and you will see the culture of impunity that has overwhelmed Ghana under Mahama.  

Now, construction of a borehole, as a matter of fact, should not qualify as an emergency to be offered on a sole-sourcing basis. Again, the price-tag for a mechanized bore-hole, according to players in the industry, should not be more than GH¢18,000, irrespective of the area or location. To drill a mechanized borehole ranges between GH¢12,000 and GH¢18,000 anywhere in Ghana on the open market.

As matter of fact, a company like Animax Drilling Company of Ghana, quotes a mechanized bore-hole within the Greater Accra Region at Ghc14,000, and a maximum of GH¢18,000 is quoted for same in any part of the country, irrespective of area, location and soil make-up.

It is in the light of this that a Public Utility Regulatory Commission letter dated 6th October,2016, requesting for a “single-sourced procurement approval for PURC’S pro-poor water project” shows the danger that our cash is in under Mahama.

In the said letter, it is stated “the commission is seeking approval to single-source contractors to construct bore-holes in selected deprived communities”. The letter continues, “the commission seeks to proceed with phase II of the pro-poor water project which shall cover all ten [10] regions of the country and consist a total of five hundred [500] bore-holes to be drilled and mechanized”.

The letter continues “the total cost of the project for the 500 bore-holes is GH¢30m.” And, no matter where the borehole is being dug, the rate per unit is quoted at GH¢60,000. This, ladies and gentlemen, is four times, the market rate. Going by the maximum Animax quotation of GH¢18,000 per borehole in the remotest part of the country, the 500 bore-holes would have amounted to GH¢9m and not GH30m. So, in all, the contract offered on sole-sourcing by PURC, has been bloated by at least GH¢21m.

Now, we currently find ourselves in a country, and under a government where allowances for nurses and teacher trainees have been cancelled due to unavailability of funds in the state coffers. Qualified and working professionals from these two fields of study who have been fortunate to be employed, have had to go without monthly salaries for not less than 3yeaars, in some instances. Again, there some of these professionals who have qualified, for years, but have not been employed and have become burdens on their parents by way of daily upkeep.