Pwalugu Dam: How did you dispense $12m with speed when you haven't secured 30% funding?

Pwalugu Dam: How did you dispense $12m with speed when you haven't secured 30% funding? – Cudjoe asks GIDA

President of IMANI Africa Franklin Cudjoe

The founder and president of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has asked the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) to explain how it expended $12 million on the Pwalugu Multipurpose Irrigation Dam project since no block has been laid at the site of the project.

Following criticism of a no-show at the Pwalugu Dam project's site, even though a whopping $12 million had been spent on it, GIDA, in a statement issued on May 28, 2024, explained that the money was used to pay the contractor of the project, Messrs Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA), as part of the terms of the contract as a mobilisation fee.

GIDA emphasised that the government faced no risk in approving this payment, countering claims that no work had been performed. It highlighted that the contractor had delivered pre-construction documents and completed some physical work, including building a camp and access roads.

Reacting to this in a post shared on social media on Thursday, May 30, 2024, Franklin Cudjoe suggested that the contractor should not have been paid.

He questioned why the $12 million was paid to the contractor even though 30 percent of the funding for the project had not been secured.

"Pwalugu Dam tales, $12m mobilisation fund according to GIDA, how do you dispense $12m with speed when you haven't secured 30% funding for the project? Years on, NO DAM," he wrote.

The IMANI president also indicated that the Komenda Sugar Factory has suffered the same fate, with the government spending millions of dollars on it, yet the factory is not operational.

"Komenda Sugar Factory, 8 years on, and nearly $36m wasted, the factory is wasted."

See his post below:

Pwalugu Dam tales. $12m mobilisation fund according to GIDA. How do you dispense $12m with speed when you haven't secured 30 % funding for the project? Years on NO DAM. Kommenda Sugar Factory, 8 years on, and nearly $36m wasted, the factory is wasted.#DamagingDirectorsofGhana
— Franklin CUDJOE (@lordcudjoe) May 30, 2024

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