Kelvin Taylor accuses Wontumi of $45 million COCOBOD scandal
- Kelvin Taylor has released documents on a reported $US 45 million road contract between Chairman Wontumi and Cocobod
- The contract is allegedly awarded to Wontumi’s two-year-old engineering company
- Content of the document shows the road is not even asphalted
Ghanaian journalist based in the US, Kelvin Taylor, has dropped some documents on the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman Wontumi that alleges a bloated contract with Ghana’s cocoa regulator - Cocobod.
The documents cited by YEN.com.gh alleges that an engineering company owned by Wontumi and established in 2018, Hallmark Civil Engineering Ltd, was awarded a whopping $45 million contract by Cocobod to complete a 20-kilometer road.
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Contents of this document alleges the road is not an asphalt road and that it makes the projects very expensive, with a $2 million being spent per kilometre.
An official letter from Cocobod dated, November 20, 2020 is titled; “Rehabilitation of roads in cocoa growing areas - Construction of Dadieso-Akontombra road (KM 4.00 - 26.30) Awaso-Asawinso (Bibiani Jn) Western North.).
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The alleged official letter, priced the contract at US$ 45,199,526.96 for a period of 24 months. It further instructs Chairman Wontumi to as a matter of urgency sign a Performance Bond/Security for 10 percent of the contract price issued by a reputable bank within 21 days or risk losing the contract altogether.
Should these allegations turn out true, Cocobod will have a lot of questions to answer. This is especially when Chairman Wontumi’s engineering company was established only two years ago and may be lacking the needed experience to embark on such a project.
Source: Facebook
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It also begs the question of favoritism and bloating of contract sales.
So far, Ghana’s cocoa regulator, COCOBOD, has approved GHC 1.2 billion for payments to road contractors under the cocoa roads program under the NDC government.
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Interestingly, current management of COCOBOD led by its Chief Executive, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has refused to release audits of road contracts under his regime citing some legal protection. According to him, Ghanaians interested in the audit must follow the application process to get it.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
