Mathematical Mix-up or Deliberate Duplication? Why the Presidency’s Big Push report doesn’t add up
The Fourth Estate’s investigations into the Mahama administration’s flagship construction project, The Big Push, generated a lot of public debate about the use and abuse of sole source procurement in the award of public contracts. In May 2026, in response to The Fourth Estate’s investigation, the presidency released a 72-page report which concluded that the Ministry of Roads and Highways did not abuse the sole source process in its award of contracts under the Big Push initiative. Interestingly, the number of Big Push contracts used to arrive at that conclusion differed from those obtained by The Fourth Estate through a Right to Information (RTI) request from the Roads Ministry. While the presidency’s response sought to dispute the number of sole-sourced contracts awarded under the initiative, it however, did not dispute the cost per project contained in The Fourth Estate’s report. So what did the presidency miss in its own review of contracts awarded under its flagship project? Kwaku Krobea Asante joins us to break down the figures and point out where they fall short.
