Bawumia’s family benefiting from overpriced single-sourced cocoa road contracts — Ablakwa alleges

Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has shared a new audit report from the Auditor-General that alleges that Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's family has benefited from several overpriced single-sourced contracts for cocoa road projects.

According to the report submitted to Parliament, Mr. Ablakwa said 87% of cocoa road contracts awarded since 2020 under the Akufo-Addo government were given through sole-sourcing without competitive bidding.

Some contracts were reportedly awarded at up to three times the actual cost, noted the vocal MP.

Mr. Ablakwa in a post via X on Friday, February 16, singled out one company called Resources Access Limited as having familial ties to Vice President Bawumia.

“PPA documents reveal that in one day — specifically on July 2, 2020, Resources Access Limited owned by Abraham Bawumia (the Veep’s brother) and Aneta Kaminska Bawumia were handed two lucrative single-sourced cocoa road contracts valued at a fantastic GHS83.7million," stated the MP.

The two contracts given to Resources Access Limited on the same day were for the upgrading of two feeder roads in the Central Region, at a total cost of GHS83.7 million.

This, according to Mr. Ablakwa, raise serious questions about possible conflicts of interest and lack of transparency in the awarding of public contracts.

In 2016, then-opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo and his running mate Dr. Bawumia, according to the North Tongu lawmaker criticized the Mahama government over "overpricing of contracts through sole sourcing."

However, "Now, Vice President Bawumia's own words have come to hurt him," noted Ablakwa.

“Who could ever have predicted that after Vice President Bawumia launched his scathing and vicious attacks on President John Mahama, the Bawumia family would one day be caught neck-deep directly benefiting from multiple over-priced, single-sourced, ‘create, loot and share schemes?’" he further asked.