Our ongoing special parliamentary oversight on the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government’s District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP) has revealed a scary tale of unconscionable inflationary pricing on a nation wrecking scale.
In part one of the DRIP Scandal exposé, incontrovertible evidence was provided about how the hitherto unknown elephantine US$178.7million (GHS2.8billion) DRIP contract was not awarded competitively but was single-sourced in an opaque sweetheart deal to J.A. Plantpool of the Zoomlion conglomerate.
Vice President Bawumia was right when he consistently stated in 2016 and 2017 that sole-sourcing and single-sourcing leads to overpriced contracts and that they do not guarantee value for money.
Unfortunately, despite pledging to end the canker, the ever deceptive Vice President Bawumia soon forgot his principled position when his brother, Abraham Bawumia was awarded multiple overpriced single-sourced road contracts.
It has now been confirmed beyond any scintilla of doubt that all the DRIP equipment which Bawumia touts as his singular achievement have been wickedly and unpatriotically inflated by over US$102million (GHS1.6billion).
In essence, Ghana should be paying only US$76.6million for the DRIP equipment supplied and not US$178.7million.
An analysis of the real market values of the same specs of DRIP equipment from the manufacturers has revealed astonishingly scandalous findings.
Note that the equipment were purchased mainly from the Chinese manufacturer, LiuGong using J.A. Plantpool as an intermediary.
A few other road construction equipment were purchased from Shaanxi Automobile Holding Group, the manufacturers of Shacman also using J.A. Plantpool as an intermediary.
On the website of LiuGong, they proudly celebrate their successful delivery of the DRIP equipment to the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and confirm the participation of LiuGong Chairman & CEO Zeng Guang’an, and Senior Vice President Luo Guobing at the DRIP commissioning in Accra on July 31, 2024.
Inquiries made to LiuGong and an assessment of their advertised real market values confirm the following depressing facts:
1. LiuGong Motor Grader 4180D currently selling at US$61,000.00 but sold to Ghanaian taxpayers under Bawumia’s DRIP for US$185,236.80 (inflated by 204%).
2. LiuGong Single Drum Roller 614e currently selling at US$24,500.00 but sold to Ghanaian taxpayers under Bawumia’s DRIP for US$77,616.00 (inflated by 217%).
3. LiuGong Backhoe CLG 777A currently selling at US$43,000.00 but sold to Ghanaian taxpayers under Bawumia’s DRIP for US$78,000.00 (inflated by 82%).
4. LiuGong Crawler Bulldozer B230 currently selling at US$100,000.00 but sold to Ghanaian taxpayers under Bawumia’s DRIP for US$188,066.67 (inflated by 88%).
5. LiuGong Wheel Loader 50CN currently selling at US$58,000.00 but sold to Ghanaian taxpayers under Bawumia’s DRIP for US$88,000.00 (inflated by (inflated by 52%).
6. Shacman H3000 Tipper Truck currently selling at US$42,000.00 but sold to Ghanaian taxpayers under Bawumia’s DRIP for US$78,000.00 (inflated by 90%).
7. Shacman H3000 Water Tanker currently selling at US$35,000.00 but sold to Ghanaian taxpayers under Bawumia’s DRIP for US$84,000.00 (inflated by 140%).
8. Low Bed currently selling at US$51,400.00 but sold to Ghanaian taxpayers under Bawumia’s DRIP for 146,132.44 (inflated by 184%).
9. Concrete Mixers currently selling at US$959.00 but sold to Ghanaian taxpayers under Bawumia’s DRIP for US$1,480.00 (inflated by 54%).
Even more appalling, industry officials engaged say that these rates can be substantially discounted with a bulk purchase, and are therefore in total shock that the super bulk purchase by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/J.A.Plantpool deal rather led to these cruel price escalations.
Those who loudly promised to protect the public purse have left suffering Ghanaian taxpayers with a road equipment bill of US$178.7million when we shouldn’t be paying anything more than US$76.6million.
Some experts have told me that with US$178.7million, Ghana would have been better of starting its own road construction equipment manufacturing company.
Now many analysts believe the excitement of Vice President Bawumia about DRIP has got little to do with any potential impact in road construction.
Based on this latest traumatizing revelations, the NDC Caucus in Parliament will in the coming days initiate concrete steps for a full probe into the DRIP heist.
We shall do everything in our power to stop the full rip-off payment of US$178.7million (2.8billion).
For God and Country.
Ghana First
