The report on the audit of cocoa roads commissioned by the Akufo-Addo administration will be published at the “appropriate time,” Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo has said.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, he assured that the government is “not hiding” audit report” on the matter.
“Since the report is available and is still being looked at in detail, I think at the appropriate time, it will be published.”
The Akufo-Addo administration suspended work on cocoa road projects in 2017 for an audit, following corruption concerns.
The Mahama administration, which came before it, was among other things, accused of awarding over 230 different road contracts to the tune of GHc3.5 billion under the project, to the detriment of the Ghana Cocoa Boards’ finances.
In July, the government said contractors are being supplied funds to resume work on various cocoa road projects.
In May, a similar announcement was made with the Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako Attah, saying the resumption of the suspended road projects followed the government’s directive to the Finance Ministry to release funds to settle debt owed contractors.
At the time, he said about $1 billion had been earmarked for outstanding payments.
The Consolidated Bank Ghana later released GHc530 million to COCOBOD for the construction of cocoa roads, according to the Finance Minister, who spoke in July.
In the 2020 budget statement, COCOBOD is said to have secured funds to continue with ongoing and new cocoa roads.
It only says work on these roads will also commence soon but gives no concrete timeline.
