Construction of BoG HQ project fraught with irregularities– Ablakwa alleges

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has exposed a drastic escalation of the cost of the new Bank of Ghana Headquarters from the initial projected cost of $80 million to a staggering $250 million at present.

In a social media post, Ablakwa also alleged that a construction firm, selected through a single-source Public Procurement Authority (PPA) process for the project, is not even a registered entity within the country.

This startling disclosure has not only raised immediate concerns but has also fueled suspicions regarding potential irregularities and improprieties embedded within the entire process of selection and subsequent approval.

The North Tongu MP also pointed out that a separate company was granted PPA approval for project management services a full three months prior to its official registration.

Ablakwa also dismissed claims that the decision to construct a new headquarters for the Central Bank commenced under the erstwhile National Democratic Congress.

“From the intercepted documents, procurement for the project did not commence under the NDC or during the tenure of Hon. Ato Forson as Board Member, neither did it start during the presidency of H.E. John Mahama, contrary to the vicious fabrications by some desperate NPP apologists.

“The BoG’s unacceptable use of the Restricted Tendering Method amounts to a blatant violation of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) as amended in Act 914. Section 38 of Act 663 provides a limited scope for the use of Restricted Tendering in circumstances where goods, services or works are available only from a limited number of suppliers or contractors;

“From the intercepted documents, the BoG handpicked the following companies: i) Messrs. WBHO Ghana Limited, ii) Messrs. Man Enterprise, iii) Messrs. DeSimone Limited, iv) Messrs. Ronesans Holdings and v) Messrs. Goldkey Properties;

“It is not clear what criteria the BoG used in selecting its preferred 5 companies when Ghana’s built environment can boast of many established and celebrated construction firms such as Consar, Berock, Maripoma, Mawums, M. Barbisotti, First Sky, Antartic, Ussuya, Regimanuel, and so on and so forth.”Click here to read the full post by Okudzeto Ablakwa

Below is the full post by Okudzeto Ablakwa