Ghana: Minority Raises Alarm Over Inactivity At Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam Site Despite $12M Payment

Ghana’s Minority group in Parliament has raised concerns about the seeming inactivity on the land for the construction of the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam in the Upper East Region nearly four years after President Akufo-Addo performed a ground-breaking ceremony for the project to commence.

The group is alleging that $12 million has been sunk into the project but the land for the project is still lying bare and grown with weeds.

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo cut the sod in November 2019 for the $993 project which consisted of a hydro-solar hybrid system with 60 megawatts hydropower and 50 megawatts solar power.

The project was to be completed in the second half of 2024.

However, a visit by the Minority group, led by the Ranking Member on Mines and Energy Committee, showed that the site was virtually abandoned as there was no activity ongoing at the time of the visit.

Speaking to some journalists during a visit to the site, the Member of Parliament for Yapei-Kusawgu, John Jinapor, said $12 million had been sunk into the project, yet there was nothing to show apart from the bare land.

He said their visit to the site revealed that parts of the site had been turned into farming areas by locals.

“We will activate all the parliamentary processes to retrieve that amount of money; almost 200 million cedis has been dashed to this contractor. Somebody must be held accountable. $12 million can do a lot in this country.

“So we’ll use every legitimate means, every legal means to retrieve the money and punish those who have caused this financial crime and financial loss to the state,” he said.

Earlier this month, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) addressed questions about the $12 million payment made to MS Power China International Group Limited for the project.

Some lawmakers had raised concerns that the money was released despite a lack of visible progress on the project.

The BoG clarified that it acted as a custodian of government accounts and followed proper procedures by releasing the funds after receiving government authorization.

It emphasised that verifying project progress after payments are made falls outside their area of responsibility.

Government is yet to respond to the Minority’s claim.

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com