Saglemi Housing Project: Mahama govt overpaid contractor $115 million – Attorney-General reveals

It has emerged that the government of Ghana paid $179 million to the company that executed the Saglemi Housing Project despite only $64 million worth of work on the ground.

This was revealed by the Attorney General in a fact sheet submitted to the Accra High Court and sighted by www.ghanaweb.com.

The Attorney General details that the contractor managed to work on 651.75 acres of land as opposed to the 2172 acres of land for which the entire project was billed for.

The court papers revealed further that of the 668 housing units executed by the contractors, not a single of them is suitable for residential use.

“Even though a total amount of $196,428,891.66 has been spent on the Saglemi Affordable Housing Project, with the contractor having been paid $179,904,757.78, investigations revealed that the cost of works executed on the site, including consultancy services, is about $64,982,900.77. Only 651.75 acres of land out of the 2,172 acres of land made available by the MWRWH to the contractor for the project has been developed.

“Investigations further revealed that only 668 housing units were completed by the contractor. These houses are however not habitable. Not a single house under the project has been sold and the facility remains unpaid, resulting in huge financial loss to the Republic of Ghana.”

Five persons including forme Works and Housing Ministers Collins Dauda and Kwaku Agyeman Mensah have been charged with 52 counts of willfully causing financial loss to the state over their roles in the execution of the Saglemi Housing deal.

The Executive Chairman of the company that undertook the project, Andrew Clocanas and former Chief Director of the Ministry Alhaji Ziblim Yakubu and Tetteh Angelo, the majority shareholder of Ridge Management Solutions DWC-LLC are the other accused persons.

Read the charge sheet below