Only 44 per cent of Big Push contracts awarded through sole sourcing – Roads Minister

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Governs Kwame Agbodza, the Minister for Roads and Highways

The Roads Minister, Governs Kwame Agbodza, has rejected the reports claiming his ministry awarded 81 sole-sourced contracts worth over ₵73 billion in 7 months under Big Push.

According to the Roads Minister, only 44 per cent of Big Push contracts awarded by the Roads Ministry under President Mahama were through sole sourcing. 

Speaking in Parliament on March 24, 2026, Governs Kwame Agbodza explained that a mix of procurement methods was used in line with the laws of Ghana.

On the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, Governs Kwame Agbodza stated, “Given the scale and importance of these projects, a mix of procurement processes was employed in accordance with the law”.

“It is important to note that only 44% of all the major contracts under the Big Push project were awarded by the ministry under sole sourcing, not what has been published by a certain online portal”.

According to Kwame Agbodza, more than 400 contracts had been awarded through open competitive bidding, which he described as unprecedented.

“We have also awarded over 400 contracts under open competitive bidding. Records show that from 2017 to 2024, almost all the projects carried out by the ministry were sole-sourced. It is therefore mischievous for any right-thinking member of society to conclude that the Ministry of Roads and Highways only procures works through sole sourcing,” he said.

on the heels of The Fourth Estate publication, which suggested President John Dramani Mahama and his government have been playing lip service in terms of promises to minimise sole-source procurement to encourage competitive bidding.

President John Mahama, on numerous occasions, has reiterated his government’s commitment to make single-source procurement a rare exception rather than the norm.

In the NDC People’s Manifesto, they also pledged to “make single-sourced procurement (sole-sourcing) an exception and not the rule.”

John Mahama, during his recent SONA, also repeated his vow and commitment, “Mr Speaker, we are bringing legislation to this House to tighten our procurement processes by banning sole-sourced contracts, except in exceptional circumstances,” the President told Parliament.

However, after one year in office, the report by The Fourth Estate has unearthed that the Road Ministry awarded 81 sole-sourced contracts worth over GHS73 billion in 7 months.

The Fourth Estate 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.”

Also, The Minority in Parliament had earlier called on the government to release full details of contracts awarded under its major road infrastructure programme, the ‘Big Push.

Kennedy Osei Nyarko stated, “We strongly believe that the government must, as a matter of urgency, publish the full details of these contracts. This will give Ghanaians the opportunity to independently assess the policy and promote transparency in the execution of the programme”.

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