National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s National Communications Officer and CEO of GoldBod Samuel Gyamfi,
After promising to end sole-sourcing contracts in its manifesto, the John Dramani Mahama government is in hot pursuit of an Olympic medal in sole-sourcing contracts, mostly under suspicious circumstances.
In just two government contracts, the government has succeeded in blowing some GHC113 million on the purchase of luxurious vehicles for the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) and on road contracts by the Ministry of Roads.
The Ghana Gold Board, under the National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s National Communications Officer, Samuel Gyamfi, has awarded a GHC40 million sole-sourcing contract to Prime Cedis Plus Company Limited for the purchase of 45 luxurious vehicles.
Documents available to the Evening Mail suggest that the contracts, signed on 18th August 2025, indicate that the procurement went through the public procurement system via restrictive tendering.
Ministry of Roads
In another development, data from The Fourth Estate indicates that within just seven months, out of 107 contracts awarded by the Ministry of Roads under Governs Kwame Agbodza, 81 of them, valued at GHC73 billion, were awarded through sole sourcing.
Available documents suggest that, in some of the contracts, mere maintenance works on a 9 km road cost the state a whopping GHC37.5 million, while in some cases a 1 km feeder road costs GHC12.4 million, raising concerns about value for money.
This comes on the back of recent reports of an GHC11 million renovation contract awarded by the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) to Correca Ghana Limited, a company linked to Stan Dogbe, the Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Operations at the Presidency, sparking controversy over conflict of interest, transparency and value for money in public procurement.
The law
Under the Public Procurement Act of Ghana, there are a few conditions under which sole-sourcing contracts may be awarded.
These include where goods, works or services are available only from a particular supplier or contractor, or where a supplier or contractor has exclusive rights in respect of the goods, works or services and no reasonable alternative or substitute exists; where there is an urgent need for the goods, works or services and engaging in tender proceedings or any other method of procurement is impractical due to unforeseeable circumstances giving rise to the urgency, which is not the result of dilatory conduct on the part of the procurement entity; and where, owing to a catastrophic event, there is an urgent need for the goods, works or technical services, making it impractical to use other procurement methods.
NDC in opposition
The NDC, while in opposition, criticised the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government over the use of sole-sourced contracts.
President John Dramani Mahama has, on multiple occasions, including the 2026 State of the Nation Address and shortly afterwards at the National Economic Dialogue in Accra, reaffirmed his government’s commitment to minimising sole sourcing, acknowledging that the abuse of this procurement method leads to inflated contract values and places unnecessary pressure on the public purse.
Big Push
Relatedly, the Minority in Parliament has called on the government to publish full details of contracts awarded under its flagship Big Push programme, raising concerns over transparency in the utilisation of an estimated GHC50 billion in public funds.
At a press conference held in Parliament on Tuesday, 24th March 2026, the Ranking Member on the Roads and Transport Committee, Kennedy Nyarko Osei, questioned the processes underpinning the award of the initial batch of projects.
