What!?...Will My Gates & Doors Be Made Of Gold? Bawumia On Cost of New Residence

A whopping $13.9 million dollars is to used to construct a new mansion to house Ghana’s Vice Presidents, Peacefmonline.com can confirm.

Peacefmonline can also confirm that construction of the new residence being built at the Switch back road in Accra, has currently stalled though contract was awarded and started under the erstwhile John Mahama-led administration.

Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia, who made the startling disclosure during a speech at the Launch of the ‘Good Corporate Governance Initiative’ at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra, Tuesday, indicated that he strongly believes the bidding process for the construction of the house did not "go through competitive tender."

Lamenting on how the state in recent times abused the Procurement Act by "the resort to sole-sourcing of contracts" needlessly, Dr Bawumia stressed the need to safeguard the taxpayer's purse by strictly enforcing the Public Procurement Act, Act 663.

"Very importantly, we want to ensure the strict enforcement of the Public Procurement Act, Act 663; it is an Act that in my opinion and in the opinion of many, has really been abused recently, the resort to sole-sourcing of contracts has been more the rule rather than the exception.

"The way the Act was designed, sole-sourcing was not supposed to be as rampant as we are seeing it today and I think that we will have to enforce this Public Procurement Act.

“There was this whole brouhaha about this Vice President’s residence, I am sure you heard about it, so in the context of discussing this issue, there is supposed be a vice president’s residence under construction…so I asked the question why this project has not been finished, why has it delayed and they said ‘well the contractor is owed a lot of money’ and I said how much is this money and am told well it is a lot of money.

“So [I asked] how much is this house actually costing and I was shocked when I was told, can you believe in Ghana we are building a house to house our Vice President and this house is supposed to cost 13.9 million dollars.

“I mean what sort of house is it supposed to be, is the gate made of gold, pavement made of gold, blocks of gold, a house in Ghana for 13.9 million dollars…I couldn’t believe it…and I am hundred percent sure it didn’t go through competitive tender…and there it stands uncompleted,” Dr. Bawumia said.

Bawumia Stranded?

Earlier this year, when John Dramani Mahama’s successor, President Nana Akufo-Addo, took over the administration of the country, news went viral that Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was stranded, since his residence was still being occupied by the former president.

But Mr. Mahama in a statement, rejected the report, describing it as “mischievous.”

Per the statement, Dr Bawumia (the Vice President) was expected to take up residence in the House known as Australia House, which was previously occupied by former Vice President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur.

An Official and Permanent residence for the Vice President is currently under construction, off the Switchback road. Dr. Bawumia will move into the new structure when completed,” the statement read.

Transparency?...Push Parliament To Amend Certain Laws Within 100 days

Addresing parcipants at the event, Dr Bawumia pointed out that the NPP and therefore President Nana Akufo-Addo's vision to build "a new Ghana Ghana in which hard work pays and cutting corners does not," will likely fail to materialize "unless we promote good governance, accountability and transparency."

"Leadership plays an important role in good governance," he acknowledged.

Consequently, he said, the present administration, seeking to enhance transparency, will impress on parliament the need to amend certain laws and pass the Right To Information Bill swiftly.

"We are going to have to push parliament to make the necessary amendments and if I had my way, it should be passed within these first 100 days of this government...It brings transparency in our governance," the Vice-President stated.