Parliament committee discovers government paid contractor for Pwalugu dam over $11.9m for no work done

Excerpts of a report of a committee of Parliament shared on social media by the Minority Chief Whip, Kwame Governs Agbodza, have shown that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government paid the contractor for the Pwalugu Irrigation Project over $11.9 million.

According to the report, the payment to the contractor, M/S Powechina International Group Limited, was part of over $ 117 million the government paid to contractors undertaking various projects in 2022.

The over $11.9 million was captured as the final payment for the construction of the Pwalugu Irrigation Project.

The committee therefore recommended that the Bank of Ghana be ordered to recover the money paid to the contractor.

“Payments made to contractors undertaking various projects in the country in 2022 amounted to US$117,150,255.37 as compared to US$32,246,487.75 for 2021, an increase of US$84,903,767.62 (263.3%). Among the payments for the year under review is payment of US$11,949,088.06 to M/S Powechina International Group Limited as Final Payment for the Construction of the Pwalugu Irrigation Project.

“The Committee noted that no work has been done by the contractor at the project site after receiving the money paid to him. The Committee is therefore recommending to the Bank of Ghana to recover the US$11,949,088.06 from the contractor,” a portion of the document shared by Agbodza reads.

The Minority Chief Whip, who is the Member of Parliament for Adaklu, wondered why the government would pay such a huge amount of money with nothing to show for it.

“How on earth did Dr Bawumia look on when more than $11 million was paid to a contractor when there is no evidence for work done? Why did the governor of Bank of Ghana pay this money and call it final payment?” he wrote on X on Wednesday, December 18, 2024.

BAI/EK

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