Mahama demands answers from Roads Minister over sole-sourced contracts

President John Dramani Mahama has directed the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, to respond to allegations of sole-sourcing contracts awarded under the Big Push initiative, as the presidency requests a detailed report on The Fourth Estate’s latest investigations.

“Although we have seen snippets of the investigation from the media, I have instructed my office to obtain the full detailed report from the Fourth Estate and to conduct a study of the various allegations presented in the report,” the President said during a dialogue with civil society organisations at the Jubilee House in Accra, on Monday.

According to the President, while sole-sourcing is allowed under certain circumstances by the country’s procurement laws, “we would all agree that open, transparent tenders are always preferable for achieving competitive pricing and value for money.”

The President also said the procurement law would be reviewed to limit the use of sole-sourcing.

The President’s directive follows The Fourth Estate’s latest publication, which showed how the Ministry of Roads and Highways under Kwame Governs Agbodza had resorted mainly to the award of contracts under the Big Push programme through sole-sourcing.

The Fourth Estate revealed that out of 107 road contracts awarded under the Big Push programme, 81 were on a sole-sourcing basis and 26 on restricted tendering, with none awarded under competitive tendering.

The story also questioned past rhetoric of some members of the current administration, including Mr Agbodza, who criticised the Akufo-Addo administration for using sole-sourcing to fleece the state. In contrast, the current road minister supervised the award of 76% of contracts under sole-sourcing. 

Subsequent reports also questioned the cost per kilometre of road contracts awarded under the Big Push Programme, particularly the 46-kilometre Dodo Pepesu-Nkwanta Road, which was initially constructed at the cost of €25.9 million but has now shot up to more than €63 million for rehabilitation.

The Fourth Estate also raised issues about how Growth 82 Global Ltd, a company registered in January 2025, and was awarded a multi-million-euro Dodo Pepesu-Nkwanta road for rehabilitation in December 2025.

That is not all. Build Managers, the company awarded the contract to upgrade the nine-kilometre Apegusu–Mpakadan feeder road at a cost of more than GHS146 million, indicated on its Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) clearance certificate that it had only one employee.

Similarly, Sanam Ghana Limited, which is undertaking the upgrade of the Todome–Toh Kpalime–Dzemeni feeder road and the Dzemeni town roads, listed just four employees on its SSNIT clearance certificate—raising questions about the pre-contract qualifications of some of these companies.

Ministry’s response to the story

In response to The Fourth Estate’s findings, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, told Parliament that the ministry had awarded more than 400 road contracts, including those under the Big Push programme, through competitive bidding—without providing evidence to support the claim.

In an apparent attempt to discredit the story, the ministry published a list of 54 road contracts it had awarded, but notably omitted the procurement methods used.

An analysis of the published contracts shows that seven were awarded through selective tendering, while a staggering 47—representing 87%—were sole-sourced.

The report has triggered demand for accountability among a section of the public and civil society organisations, who are questioning the government’s commitment to limiting the use of sole-sourcing for government procurement.

While key figures in the current administration, including Sammy Gyamfi, then National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC); North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, and the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, previously condemned sole-sourcing as a breeding ground for corruption, the President, in two State of the Nation Addresses, committed his government to using the method only in rare instances.