I don’t know status of $14m veep residence – Bawumia

The vice president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said he is not in a position to update Ghanaians about the status of his official residence which commenced during the John Mahama administration.

The official residence of the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana became a subject of controversy when the new administration of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) took over. Dr. Bawumia disclosed at a public event the residence is costing Ghana a whopping $14 million.

“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 to 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 100% sure it didn’t go through competitive tender…and there it stands uncompleted,” Dr. Bawumia said at a public event in January.

Asked to give an update on the project at a media encounter with the president at the Flagstaff House in Accra Tuesday, Dr. Bawumia said he has no idea.

“I don’t know if there is any work going on,” the economist stressed.

He added: “I doubt there is work going on. It probably doesn’t make sense for Ghana to leave it idle. We have to sit with the contractor… $14 million is way too high.”

The decision to construct a new residence for Ghana’s Vice Presidents became an issue after former President Mahama decided to reside in the previous official Vice president’s residence after he was elected president.