The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, says the Fourth Estate investigation into the government’s Big Push initiative is not intended to embarrass the administration but to promote accountability.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem on March 25, Mr. Braimah stressed that the work of the Fourth Estate is guided by the public interest.
“What we are doing is not to humiliate or put the NDC government or the Roads Minister, Kwame Governs Agbodza, in a bad light. We will make all the documents public,” he stated.
He explained that the goal is to ensure transparency and encourage honest governance.
“All we are saying is that the nation is for all of us, and if things go well, it is to the benefit of all of us,” he added.
Mr. Braimah, however, questioned what he described as inconsistencies in the position of some government officials on sole sourcing and procurement practices.
“It shouldn’t be that when a party is in opposition, they will say things nicely and convince people they will do things better,” he said.
He further challenged claims suggesting that earlier criticisms of sole sourcing were not meant to imply wrongdoing.
“They are now saying that when they were raising concerns under the NPP, they didn’t mean to say it was a bad thing or crime. So what exactly were they saying?” he asked.
According to him, national development requires honesty and consistency in public discourse.
“For the nation to grow, we must all be honest and truthful with ourselves,” he stressed.
Mr. Braimah also raised concerns about figures presented in relation to the Big Push programme, questioning their accuracy and coherence.
“So even if that is true, when you subtract 14 from 81 billion, they gave to us, do you get 54?” he queried.
His comments come amid ongoing debate over the Big Push initiative following the Fourth Estate’s report, which has sparked public scrutiny of road contracts and procurement processes.
Meanwhile, the Roads and Highways Minister, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has defended the programme, stating that the government took a deliberate decision not to abandon ongoing projects inherited from the previous administration.
According to him, some stalled projects, including the Ofankor and Kasoa-Winneba roads, have been incorporated into the Big Push framework to ensure continuity.
He added that the projects are distributed across the country, with some divided into multiple segments to improve efficiency and execution.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com
