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Minister for Information, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has described as falsehoods, certain statements put out by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that there is no value-for-money audit report on the $2bn infrastructure for bauxite project between the Government of Ghana and Sinohydro.

On the contrary, he says, there is a value-for-money audit, and its subsequent report has okayed the project.

The Information Minister made this known when speaking during an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, 10th April 2019.

The Minority in Parliament had earlier in the week asserted that Ghanaians could be shortchanged if government proceeds with the $2bn Sinohydro project without financial assessment of whether it offers value for money.

NDC MP for Adaklu constituency in the Volta region and Tanking Member of Parliament's Roads and Transport Committee, Hon Kwame Agbodza, who led the charge, decried the fact there is also no written legal opinion from the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice covering the project.

"And these two documents are demanded not by the Minority but by law," Kwame Agbodza pointed out.

The Sinhydro project is expected to be inaugurated Wednesday as the Akufo-Addo government unveils its signature infrastructure plan – at Chinese expense. 

Ghana must within the next three years have a bauxite processing factory up and running and used to process raw material as payment for the red dragon’s investment. 

Responding to this, Hon Opoong-Nkrumah countered that it is the "usual style of the NDC to put out falsehoods against every useful policy of government", describing the opposition party as "enemies of progress".

The report indicates that “The Ministry of Roads and Highways (MRH), by a letter MRH/PD264/323/01 dated 17th December, 2018, requested for a Value for Money Analysis for the Construction/Rehabilitation of Selected Roads and Interchanges in Ghana-Phase 1: Lot 1 (Accra Inner City Roads).”

Accordingly, the MRH submitted to the Ghana Institution of Surveyors (GhIS) on 8th January, 2019 documents relating to a proposed Contract between: Ministry of Roads and Highways (MRH, “the Employer”) of Ghana represented by the Department of Urban Roads (DUR), and Messrs Sinohydro Corporation Limited (SHCL) of China, (“the Contractor”)
(“the Parties”) and requested GhIS to undertake a Value for Money (VFM).

The report concludes “In terms of their informational contents, both the Employer’s Requirements and the Contractor’s Proposal largely conform to the GhIS guidelines for best international practice. The documents are unambiguous and detailed and the Employer’s Requirements have the overall coherence and logical flow”.

This indicates that the "claim by the NDC that there is no value-for-money audit report is false and should be discarded", Hon Oppong-Nkrumah stated.


Find attached a copy of the value-for-money audit report.