‘Bawumia sole-sourced his brother’s company for Sunyani Airport renovation at inflated cost of GHS52 million’ — Sammy Gyamfi

Vice President and New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has been accused of sole-sourcing the renovation contract of the Sunyani Airport to his brother’s company, at a cost of GHS52 million.

The National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi made this revelation at a press conference on Wednesday, August 7.

According to Sammy Gyamfi, during his time in opposition, Dr. Bawumia had said that sole-sourcing contracts was "evil" and promised to move away from the practice if elected into office.

However, the opposition party’s spokesperson said that Dr. Bawumia further inflated the cost of the renovation which covered little works at a cost of GHS52 million to benefit his brother.

“The question is, why will you award such a project at a cost of GHS52 million?", Sammy Gyamfi asked.

He noted that despite GHS55.2 million spent on the project, the airport now only has a refurbished 120m long and 30m wide runway, with minimal renovation done to the existing terminal building to process just 100 passengers per hour.

According to Sammy Gyamfi, there are a lot of over-priced sole-sourced contracts totalling several millions of cedis which have been awarded to relatives of the Vice President just to sponsor his campaign.

The opposition party’s spokesperson lamented the fact that other contractors are owed for several years with no attempt by the government to pay them.

A vote for Bawumia is a chance to cover up these wrongdoings and others under the current government but a vote for the NDC flagbearer John Mahama is a vote for positive change that will seek to investigate and bring corrupt officials to face the rigours of the law, according to Sammy Gyamfi.