The Fourth Estate submits report on Big Push investigation to Office of the President

The Media Foundation for West Africa yesterday submitted a detailed report to the Office of the President on The Fourth Estate investigations into the abuse of sole-source procurement method in the award of contracts under the Big Push Programme.

This follows President John Mahama’s request that his office obtains a full report on the investigations. He made the request during his interactions with heads of civil society organisations on March 30, 2026, where he added that his office will conduct a study on the details of our report.

At the same event, the President further directed the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, to respond to the findings of The Fourth Estate investigations.

Background

The Fourth Estate’s latest investigation revealed how the Ministry of Roads and Highways had resorted mainly to the award of contracts under the Big Push programme through sole-sourcing.

It also revealed that out of 107 road contracts awarded under the Big Push programme, 81 were sole-sourced, and the remaining 26 awarded on restricted tendering basis, with none awarded under competitive tendering.

The story also showed a glaring contrast between the promises and pledges by President Mahama and other key government officials to limit the abuse of sole-sourcing on the one hand and, on the other hand, the Ministry of Roads and Highways’ supervision of the award of 76% of contracts for the government flagship project through 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 reports also raised issues about how Growth 82 Global Ltd, a company registered in January 2025, was awarded a multi-million-euro contract for the rehabilitation of the Dodo Pepesu-Nkwanta in December 2025.

The Fourth Estate also revealed that 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.

The Fourth Estate is a non-profit, public interest and accountability investigative journalism project of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).