Engineers petition Auditor-General to audit Big Push road contracts after The Fourth Estate’s report

The Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) has petitioned the Auditor-General to launch an independent special technical audit into the Ministry of Roads and Highways’ Big Push projects.

The petition, signed by the President of the GhIE, Ludwig Annang Hesse, cited widespread concerns over procurement irregularities, value for money, and adherence to legal and technical standards.

GhIE described the request as a necessary step to restore public confidence following The Fourth Estate’s report that exposed extensive use of single-source procurement and Restricted Tendering for major road contracts under the initiative.

“Following recent media exposés by The Fourth Estate on the extensive use of Single Source Procurement and Restricted Tendering for the execution of works under the Big Push projects… we respectfully request that you initiate a special technical audit of these projects,” the petition stated.

The Fourth Estate’s investigations

The Fourth Estate’s March investigations revealed that a significant number of Big Push road projects were awarded through non-competitive methods, contrary to the position of key personalities of the Mahama administration while in office.

The Fourth Estate’s analysis showed that in the last seven months, the ministry has awarded 107 road contracts. Contrary to President John Mahama’s promise to ensure competitiveness and transparency in the awarding of public contracts, not a single one of 107 contracts was awarded based on competitive tendering.

The findings showed that a whopping 81 out of the 107 road contracts worth over GHS73 billion were awarded through sole-sourcing. The remaining 26 contracts worth about GHS8 billion were awarded through selective tendering. This means over 90% of the amount of money expected to be spent on roads under the Big Push programme so far was given out through sole-sourcing.

The Fourth Estate also raised concerns about the cost per kilometre of some of the roads. Its investigations further revealed that, out of the three contracts made available to it, two companies—Sanam Ghana Limited and Build Managers Limited—had only four and one employees respectively on their Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) records, raising questions about the Ministry’s adherence to pre-qualification requirements.

The report was greeted with mixed reactions. While some critics say the findings from the report raised critical questions and red flags about transparency and accountability, others saw nothing wrong.

The investigations and issues raised caught the attention of President John Mahama, who requested that The Fourth Estate submit a full report on the matter and directed the Minister for Roads and Highways to respond to the allegations published by the outlet.

 In that regard, GhIE noted that although the revelations triggered “huge public interest” and prompted President Mahama to direct the Minister for Roads and Highways to respond to the allegations, only an audit by the Auditor-General’s office can provide “a more independent and credible opinion.”

For GhIE, the scale of the Big Push programme is enormous as the government is committing approximately GHS110 billion to the agenda, with about Gh¢85 billion already allocated to ongoing road projects.

It emphasised that such a massive public investment demands “rigorous scrutiny to ensure value for money and compliance with established legal and technical standards.”

The engineers’ umbrella body is not seeking a narrow compliance check. It wants the audit to examine the entire project delivery chain,  from feasibility, design, procurement, implementation, and establishment of clear benchmarks for future public infrastructure projects in Ghana.

The petition cited several key laws and regulations that it believed had been bypassed in the award of contracts under the Big Push project.

It said that under the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663), competitive tendering is the default procurement method, while restricted tendering and single-source procurement are permitted only under exceptional circumstances as outlined in Sections 38, 39, and 40.

The umbrella body of engineers added that the Public Investment Management Regulations 2020 (LI 2411) require that all public investment projects undergo feasibility studies and be listed in the multi-year Public Investment Plan (PIP) before procurement could begin.

The GhIE said pre-procurement requirements demand that, before projects start, a few important steps must be completed. These include detailed engineering designs, bills of quantities, cost estimates, approved Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Resettlement Action Plans (RAP) for project-affected persons, which the Land Valuation Division of the Lands Commission must approve.

The GhIE also wants the audit to scrutinize the implementation phase, including contract administration, adherence to specifications, quality assurance, cost control, timelines, and final project outcomes.

“It is our considered view that these statutory and procedural requirements are intended to ensure value for money, transparency, efficiency, and environmental and social sustainability,” the petition indicated.

The Institution has also offered to assist the Auditor-General’s office in developing appropriate Terms of Reference for the audit and in identifying competent technical experts to carry out the exercise.

Meanwhile, The Fourth Estate has submitted its report to the Presidency.