PIAC unable to verify GH¢21million petroleum-funded projects in Ayawaso West

The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has been unable to verify four petroleum revenue-funded projects valued at about GH¢21 million in the Ayawaso West Municipality because of inadequate information and vague project descriptions.

The projects could not be identified during a field inspection to assess the use of petroleum revenues between 2012 and 2024.

Mr Isaac Dwamena, Executive Secretary of PIAC, said the Committee had written to the Ministry of Roads and Highways three weeks before the inspection to request additional information but had not received a response by the time of the visit.

The inspection team, led by Nana Soglo Alloh IV, a PIAC member and Paramount Chief of the Likpe Traditional Area, identified three road projects and a Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound with assistance from officials of the Assembly.

The road projects were the surfacing of Mega Link Road at Mempeasem, valued at GH¢178,170.13; construction of a 0.45-metre U-drain along Nii Sai Road, costing GH¢130,114.85; and surfacing of Nii Sai Road, valued at GH¢131,923.65.

The three projects were implemented by the Ministry of Special Initiatives.

The team also identified a CHPS compound at Mempeasem, which received GH¢657,395.99 in 2020 and was implemented by the Ministry of Health.

The four projects that remained unlocated included the construction of a concrete drain at East Legon, valued at GH¢3.35 million, and emergency road rehabilitation works costing GH¢3.9 million.

The rehabilitation works involved the upgrading of Spintex Road and roads and culverts in the East Legon area.

The other projects were the resealing of selected roads in Ayawaso West and Ga Central, valued at GH¢1.5 million, and the Boundary Road and Motorway Slip Road projects, estimated at GH¢12 million.

The projects were attributed to the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing and the Ministry of Roads and Highways as implementing agencies.

Mr Dwamena said the information requested from the Ministry of Roads and Highways included the names and contact details of the contractors who executed the projects.

“When you go to the field armed with relevant information, it positions you better to carry out the exercise and get the results you want,” he said.

Mr Dwamena said PIAC could not conclude that the projects did not exist because it lacked the information needed to locate them.

“We would not say categorically that the projects do not exist. The information that would have enabled us to find the project, we didn't get from the Ministry of Roads and Highways,” he said.

At a post-inspection meeting, Mr Gordon Domayele, Municipal Coordinating Director of the Ayawaso West Municipal Assembly, said information-sharing on centrally implemented projects was necessary to improve monitoring and accountability.

He called on the Central Government to involve the assemblies in projects undertaken within their jurisdictions.

“Sometimes, when people come from the national to ask certain questions, they think that some of us are not on top of the issue. It is not our fault,” he said.

The inspection formed part of PIAC's mandate to collect data from stakeholder institutions and conduct physical visits to projects funded with petroleum revenues to assess value for money and promote transparency and accountability in the management of the revenues.

GNA