The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has rejected claims by government officials that a recent investigation conducted jointly with The Fourth Estate contained false information regarding the award of road contracts under the big push initiative under the administration of President John Dramani Mahama.
Speaking on the matter, MFWA Executive Director Sulemana Braimah said the government’s response failed to address the central issue raised in the report and instead focused on unrelated contracts awarded by the Ministry of Roads and Highways.
According to Braimah, the investigation specifically examined contracts awarded under the government’s flagship “Big Push” infrastructure programme and found that none of the 117 contracts reviewed were awarded through competitive tendering.
“We are not talking about contracts for road markings that the Roads Ministry has given. We are not talking about contracts for clearing road medians or filling potholes,” Braimah said.
He argued that government officials had attempted to divert attention by citing hundreds of smaller contracts that were awarded through competitive processes.
“If you put together contracts for road markings, pothole filling, and clearing of road medians and then say you have awarded more than 1,000 projects through competitive tendering, that does not address the fundamental issue,” he stated.
Braimah maintained that the government’s own figures supported the findings of the investigation.
“Even what the minister has put out is saying that out of the 117 Big Push contracts awarded by the John Mahama administration, not a single one went through competitive tendering,” he said.
The MFWA and The Fourth Estate have come under criticism from government officials following the publication of the report, which questioned procurement processes surrounding major infrastructure contracts.
Braimah insisted that the focus of the investigation remains on the Big Push contracts and not on routine maintenance works such as road markings, pothole repairs, or median clearing projects undertaken by the Roads Ministry.
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