A member of Parliament’s Food and Agriculture Committee, Dominic Nitiwul, has criticised the government over what he describes as undue delay in investigating expenditure on the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam project.
Mr. Nitiwul questioned the 14 months taken to probe the $12 million spent under the previous administration, arguing that the delay raises concerns about the government’s commitment to executing the project.
Speaking to Citi News, he noted that although the John Dramani Mahama administration assured Ghanaians of a thorough investigation into funds allegedly disbursed without visible work done, no conclusion has been announced.
“Are you going to take 10 years to finish the investigation? This is one and a half years—one year and two months—and you think that you haven’t finished?” he asked. “If you think that project is so important, you will not use 13, 14, or even 15 months to do the investigation. Something you can use in just two weeks to finish. Why are they using 13 or 14 months to finish the investigation?”
He rejected claims of wrongdoing, insisting that the $12 million was paid as mobilisation funds in line with standard contractual arrangements.
“If you award a contract to a contractor, for example, you pay that contractor something we call mobilisation—15%—to go and start the process. Then, before that mobilisation fund is paid, there’s something we call a bank guarantee or insurance guarantee. So that money is not free. You have to guarantee it. So if that work is not done, your government can pull his money back, so you don’t lose any money,” he explained.
Mr. Nitiwul maintained that such guarantees protect the state from financial loss and dismissed suggestions that funds were improperly “pumped” into the project.
“The government should fund it, continue funding it. Once you stop funding the process, obviously, the work will stall. And if the work stalls, you don’t turn around to blame the people. Blame the people who stopped funding,” he said.
The Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam project has been at the centre of public debate, with questions raised over payments made and the current status of works on site.
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