The Economic and Organised Crime (EOCO) has been told to be swift with the investigation of the allegation made by the Former Rector of the Ghana Institue of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Stephen Adei regarding the award of road contracts in Ghana.
Head of Public Relations at the Ministry of Roads and Highways Nasir Ahmad Yartey said there’s a need to bring finality to this matter and punish the culprits if there are any.
Prof Adei had alleged in an interview with TV3 that he had information to the effect that persons seeking road contracts were told: “Road contracts will be given to you, provided you pay 1 million upfront….”
He said “One of the greatest disappointments of Nana Akufo-Addo’s regime is that honestly, he raised the hope of Ghanaians. Ghanaians expected they have gotten a leader with a vision, with the charisma, with the determination and it seems if he doesn’t redeem himself in the next 14 months, he would go down in history as one of the most disappointing leaders,” he said.
He added “This road contract would be given to you, provided you put one million upfront, not after you have gotten the money. This is what Akufo-Addo must be thinking about and if he knows about it, he must be ashamed.
“That now his people demand from you a certain amount before you would be considered for a job. Why? Because when they get it, whether the government pays you or not they have gotten their money. It is as if people are in a hurry to loot the country before the end of Akufo-Addo’s term.”
Acting on this allegation, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, on Monday 23rd October 2023, requested the Executive Director of the EOCO to fully probe the allegations.
According to the Roads Ministry, these allegations are surprising at the least because the processes leading to the award of road contracts are open, transparent, competitive and in accordance with the law.
“Given that the alleged conduct borders on the commission of crime against the Republic, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Hon. Kwasi Amoako-Attah, has today, 23rd October 2023, requested the Executive Director of the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) to fully investigate the allegations.
“The Ministry wishes to assure the public that it shall cooperate fully and support EOCO in the conduct of its investigation,” a statement issued by the Ministry on Monday, October 23 said.
Speaking further on this matter on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Monday, Nasir Ahmad Yartey said “The allegations are very serious, they touch on the integrity of the Ministry, this is a ministry that takes its integrity and image very seriously and so for such an allegation of such serious magnitude we feel that we have to invite the appropriate state institution to go into the matter, we need to be very transparent about it.
“We want to use this medium to call on the Professor to assist EOCO in coming up with the truth and also call on the public if anybody has any information regarding paying one million bribes upfront for contracts, they should assist EOCO so that at least they can unravel this allegation.”
He added “we are hoping that [EOCO] will investigate this timely so that as soon as possible this issue will be dealt with. I want to repeat that we will want to invite the Professor to coorperate and give all the information that he has, names of the people he knows, he should name them so that we can bring closure to this matter to know those involved in such a state crime.”