Make sure contractors are paid if you are the de facto president – Dr Bonaa slams Gabby for attacking contractor

Former Vice Chairman of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry (GCCI), Dr Adam Bonaa, has questioned the basis on which Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko is calling for a contractor to be lashed for slow pace of work.

According to Dr Bonaa, he finds it concerning that the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s cousin seems to have a knack for commenting on every issue, including calling for a contractor to be lashed while ignoring the overwhelming debt owed contractors by the government.

“I don’t know whether he is a de facto president and I am not sure what he is saying. Instead of his barefaced statement, he should have known that contractors are owed. He should concentrate on making sure that contractors are paid. If Gabby is the de facto president he should let us know,” he told GhanaWeb in an interview.

Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko on December 26, 2023, took to his social media to lament the slow pace of work on the ongoing construction of a flyover across the Spintex Road at Flower Pot Junction in Accra.

According to Gabby, while funding for the project remains secured, the contractor has been going about the project as though it is a part time charity work.

While describing the contractor’s commitment as annoying, Gabby alluded that such conduct qualified the contractor for lashing.

“If a road contractor deserves to be lashed then it is the one building the Flower Pot Junction flyover across Spintex Road. They work as if it is a part time charity job even though there’s secured funding for the project. Galling!” he wrote in a Facebook post.

But reacting to the post, Dr Bonaa said the president’s cousin has ignored the bigger issue of contractors owed by the government while also questioning his technical understanding of the pace of the work on the flyover project.

“If he comes out to say the contractor is slow, is he an engineer? Does he know what the work entails? Does he have details of the work? Contractors have not been paid. The roads are getting bad and his concentration is on the motorway which is being done and so I just want to know, if he is that de facto president he should let us know.

“Maybe he should also be telling us that he has spoken to the director of urban roads because the motorway falls directly under the urban roads or he has spoken to the minister of roads. Every issue he finds himself there, he finds himself everywhere so I am just asking if he is the de facto president. If he is, he should make sure contractors are paid,” he stated.

GA/SARA