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The Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has attributed the difficulties facing the country to massive corruption, wastage and maladministration by the government.

He said even though many committees had been established and several reports had been written, little evidence existed to indicate that the country had benefited from such measures.

Addressing the 15th Extraordinary Annual National Conference of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Sunyani last Saturday, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu wondered why in spite of the enactment of the Procurement Act, about 80 to 85 per cent of all public procurement was by sole sourcing or restrictive tendering.

“Let the President deal with how the cost of road construction under his administration, in dollar value, has more than tripled”, he queried.

Increased cost of projects

The Minority leader said between 2005 and 2008, the Kufuor administration spent $1.2 billion to construct 4,400 kilometres of road while the NDC government spent $1.9 billion between 2009 and 2014 to construct only 740 kilometres of road.

He explained that the cost of construction of a six-unit classroom block had increased by fivefold and asked President Mahama to explain why.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu called for an investigation into the cost of the construction of many of the infrastructural projects that the President listed in his 2015 State of the Nation Address and last Tuesday when he launched his book on his achievements.

“The nation ought and seeks to have value for money in all these projects. Mr President, the end does not justify the means. You seem to think that whatever the cost, Ghanaians would like to see projects! We demand value for money,” the Minority leader said.

Martin Amidu and Anas

The Minority leader commended Mr Martin Amidu, a former Attorney-General, for waging relentless war against corruption in the country for the past three years.

The new kid on the block in the fight against corruption is Anas Aremeyaw Anas, he said, and asked Ghanaians to give him a standing ovation.

He said the fight against accountable governance was on and wondered why the President had overlooked Mr Amidu and Anas if he was serious about fighting corruption.

“Mr President, there are too many classical cases of corruption in your administration, the cases of undeserved judgement debts paid to Isofoton, Rockshell, Construction Pioneers, Waterville, Alfred Agbesi Woyome and the rest of them,” Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said.

He added that often these debts were paid at the prompting of a certain NDC Attorney-General who was required under the constitution to protect the interest of the state but ended up betraying the state to rampaging sharks.

“Simply put, the nation is being fleeced and the nation is bleeding under President John Dramani Mahama.

“The President has lost the fight against corruption”, he said, adding that combating corruption, which has become cancerous in Ghana, should be the concern of the next administration.