Engineers & Planners Deal Stinks- Progressive Youth Alliance

PROGRESSIVE YOUTH Alliance(PYA), a youth group based in the Northern Region, has joined the controversy over the decision by Government to allocate state logistics to Engineers & Planners, a company owned by the brother of Ghana's President, Ibrahim Mahama, to undertake dredging and desilting of the Odaw River in the national capital.

The Group says it is shocked by revelations that the company's operation is being sponsored by government, including the provision of machines and fuel for the project.

The opposition New Patriotic Party(NPP) has taken issues with Mr. Ibrahim Mahama and the Local Government Ministry following the latter's decision to allocate stat logistics to the former to undertake a dredging exercise at the Odaw River as part of measures to ensure proper drainage system in the national capital following series of recent flooding that left several residents dead.

The opposition party is not convinced about the arrangement, more particularly claims by Engineers & Planners that it is embarking on the project for free despite the state supplying all resources for the exercise.

The PYA therefore believes parties involved in the deal such as the Local Government and Rural Development and Engineers and Planners, especially its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mahama, owe Ghanaians lots of explanations as to the processes that went into the agreement.

In a statement issued and signed by its Spokesperson, Latif Solomon, the group noted that it is equally curious about the fact that Mr. Mahama has on several occasions denied emphatically that it is profiting from the state as a result of the position occupied by his brother, the President, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama.

According to him, it is no sheer coincidence that Engineers & Planners decided to allegedly undertake the project for free and the fact that all the equipment being used for the project were supplied by government.

"We are tempted to believe that there is an oita of truth about claims that Mr. Ibrahim Mahama is allegedly benefiting from the state as a result of his brother's position. This is a clearly case of conflict of interest and we implore state security agencies such as CHRAJ to take interest in it and launch an investigations into it," the statement noted.

The group said though it was mindful of the fact that there is a case pending before a Kumasi High Court between Mr. Mahama and the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Mr. Bernard Antwi Boasiako, for which reason it does not want to sound prejudicial, it was of the conviction that it is necessary to bring to the attention of Ghanaians, certain developments which is worth noting.

The PYA said it least expected these developments considering how vehement Mr. Mahama had been in denying his company's association with state apparatus.

It therefore recommended that Engineers & Planners must return all the equipment and be surcharged for the usage of such items.

The group also called on the President His Excellency John Dramani Mahama and the NDC government to refrain from the act of discrimination and offer every Ghanaian equal opportunity I the development of the country.