Sammy Gyamfi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Gold Board (GoldBod), has called out the Fourth Estate following its publication of over 81 sole-sourced contracts under Big Push.
According to Sammy Gyamfi, there is no evidence in the Fourth Estate publication that shows that the use of sole sourcing for the said Big Push road projects was unjustified.
He noted that in opposition, the NDC never said sole-sourcing was a sin or unlawful, adding that under the Big Push, contracts were not awarded to a select few but rather carefully selected, multiple, competent and experienced contractors with demonstrable capacity to complete the works on time.
Sammy Gyamfi highlighted that the fact that the NDC in opposition spoke against sole-sourcing in the past does not mean sole-sourcing in government must be condemned.
Sammy Gyamif explained that under the Big Push road projects, all projects were awarded through sole sourcing prior to PPA approval, as the same was justified on grounds of URGENCY.
In a post shared on X, Sammt Gyamfi wrote, “There is not a scintilla of evidence in the Fourth Estate publication that shows that the use of sole sourcing for the said Big Push road projects was unjustified or that there were any breaches of the law or abuse of the process. Neither was any evidence of the cost of the projects being inflated adduced by the Fourth Estate.
In opposition, the NDC never said sole-sourcing was a sin or unlawful. We only preached against the unjustified use and abuse of sole-sourcing in the award of government projects, some of which were established by the Auditor General to be inflated. In fact, some of us cited audit findings of the Auditor General to show that sole-sourced cocoa road projects, some of which were awarded to Bawumia’s brother were inflated.
In the case of the Big Push road projects, all projects that were awarded through sole sourcing received prior PPA approval as same was justified on grounds of URGENCY. Value for Money audits were conducted. The contracts were not awarded to a select few but rather carefully selected, multiple, competent and experienced contractors with demonstrable capacity to complete the works on time. None of the contracts have been established to be inflated. The urgency of the projects cannot be denied. And like all road projects, payments are based on actual work done certified by independent Consultants.
As a matter of fact, 23 out of 84 Big Push road projects, such as Suame Interchange, Ofankor- Nsawam, Adenta- Dodowa, etc. are inherited road projects that were all awarded by the previous NPP government through sole-sourcing with no dedicated funding. This government has simply novated the projects, maintained the contractors and provided for funding for them under the Big Push policy. The 23 road projects were not re-awarded. Yet, the Fourth Estate has mischievously added all these projects to their list of sole-sourced contracts awarded by this government. Clearly they could have done a better job.
So what’s the point really? The NDC spoke against sole-sourcing in the past so every resort by the NDC to sole-sourcing in government must be condemned? Is that the logic being canvassed by the Fourth Estate?
A classical case of comparing oranges with apples”.
Sammy Gyamfi posted further details, “The deplorable state of our roads is one of the biggest national security threats we face as a country. Bad roads have claimed many lives through fatal road accidents, armed robbery etc.
I am reliably informed that the Surveying, Designing and Costing of Big Push road projects alone took the Ministry of Roads about 7 months to complete.
Resorting to the National Competitive Tendering process for the award of these critical road projects would have taken another couple of months before the projects could even commence. This could have delayed the completion of most of the projects beyond 2028.
Competitive tendering processes have, in some cases, lasted for months. A typical example is the competitive tendering process for the Road Toll project that has not still be completed in about a year due to its complexities.
Section 40 of the Public Procurement Law provides for the single-source procurement method on grounds of urgency, among others, subject to the approval of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA). Thus, sole sourcing is lawful. The unjustified use and abuse of sole sourcing is what President Mahama and the NDC have condemned”.
His comments come on the heels of The Fourth Estate publication, which stated, “Data available to The Fourth Estate indicates that in the last seven months, the ministry has awarded 107 road contracts. Contrary to the President’s promise to ensure competitiveness and transparency in the awarding of public contracts, not a single one of 107 contracts was awarded based on competitive tendering.
A whopping 81 out of the 107 road contracts worth over GHS73 billion were awarded through sole-sourcing. The remaining 26 contracts worth about GHS8 billion were awarded through selective tendering. This means over 90% of the amount of money expected to be spent on roads under the Big Push programme so far was given out through sole-sourcing.
Despite this glaring contrast, the majority leader and leader of government business in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, audaciously proclaimed to Parliament on March 11, 2026, that “let it be known, the era of the sole-sourced contract is dead.”
See the post below:
1. The deplorable state of our roads is one of the biggest national security threats we face as a country. Bad roads have claimed many lives through fatal road accidents, armed robbery etc.
— Sammy Gyamfi (@SammyGyamfi_) March 24, 2026
2. I am reliably informed that, the Surveying, Designing and Costing of Big Push road…