Minority Leader alleges misuse of $65m in GARID project funds
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson
Minority Leader Cassiel Ato Forson has alleged that $65 million of the $200 million allocated for the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development Project (GARID) was misappropriated.
Read full articleDespite the Minority’s strong opposition, Parliament approved an additional $150 million loan facility from the World Bank for the GARID project on Friday, May 17, 2024.
In an interview on Citi TV's The Point of View, Dr. Forson claimed that funds intended for COVID-19 expenditures were misused. He criticized the Ministry of Works and Housing for failing to provide a detailed account of the expenditure to Parliament.
“Someone somewhere is trying to distort the facts, but there’s a need for us to correct the records and inform Ghanaians about the true situation. So far, almost $180 million of the $200 million loan has been drawn down. Unfortunately, much of it has been misappropriated or misapplied. For example, $65 million of the GARID loan, intended for flood prevention, was redirected to COVID-19 expenditures without detailed breakdowns,” Forson stated.
He also mentioned that despite claims of $32 million being used for dredging the Odaw River, site visits revealed no substantial work.
“When our team visited the Odaw River site, it was clear that the supposed dredging had not occurred. Contractors on site mentioned they were only recently mobilized, despite payments being made years ago,” Forson noted.
