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A gargantuan amount of GHC223 million is being spent by the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress government on 10 cocoa roads in three regions, Volta, Eastern and Brong-Ahafo regions, all totaling just 92.64 kilometres.

Documents available to the Daily Statesman from the National Procurement Authority indicate that the contractors working on all the 10 roads were all awarded the projects through sole-sourcing by the Ghana Cocoa Board, led by Stephen Opuni.

Dr Opuni is one of President Mahama’s most trusted, highly partisan, Chief Executives of state institution, who is alleged to be facilitating siphoning of funds of Cocobod to oil the campaign machinery of the governing NDC.

Sole-sourcing of contracts is one of the means through which the Mahama government is siphoning huge sums of money from the state coffers for its campaign activities, as is the case of these cocoa road projects being undertaken by Cocobod.

“Cocobod is seeking approval of the [Procurment] Board to use restricted tendering method to invite the under listed companies to tender for the Bitumen Surfacing of the following feeder roads,” a document on the projects states.

Two of these road projects, involving surfacing, and totaling 12.50km, are being undertaken at a cost of GHC18, 591,850.00 in the Volta region. They are the Obanda-Nkanya-Agoakope Likpe Bakwa-Dzolu feeder road, 9.50km long, and the Kpena Junction–Kpena, which is 3.00km.

In the Brong Ahafo region, surfacing of the Sankore-Abuom Nankete road and rehabilitation of Nkwantananso-Asiamakrom feeder road, all with a total length of 17.00km, is also costing the nation a whopping GHC25, 950,230.00.

Still in the Brong Ahafo region, a total amount of GHC36, 334,219 is also being spent on just the upgrading of the 17km Atronie-Mim raod.

Again, the rehabilitation of the 8.9km Sunyani Secondary School-Asana road, also in the Brong Ahafo region, is costing the taxpayer GHC17, 733,834.

In the Eastern Region, the partial reconstruction of the Koforidua-Bunso road, (20.00-30.00km), Old Tafo Junction-Old Tafo Road (0.00-2.7km) and Kukurantumi Junction-Kukurantumi-New Tafo Junction road (0.00-3.0) is costing the nation a whopping GHC52, 956,648.

In addition to this, the Mahama government is spending GHC71, 111,244 on the upgrading of 21km Dunkwa-Awisam-Aboabo road, also in the Eastern Region.

The opposition New Patriotic Patriotic Party has accused the Mahama administration of abusing the country’s sole-sourcing procurement rules create the opportunity for cronies to milk the state.

Policy Advisor of party’s 2016 Campaign, Boakye Agyarko, in a recent interview with Citifm, said the government’s decision to practice procuring goods and services through sole sourcing had resulted in the country getting bad competitive rates.

“Anything you do by sole sourcing is not the most efficient. When you sole source, you are not getting the best competitive rate,” he said.