Mahama’s Security Adviser ‘stole’ $6m of $13.9m for Veep bungalow – Former NDC MP reveals

Former National Security Adviser to former President John Mahama, Alhaji Baba Kamara has been fingered as the number one beneficiary in the controversial pricing of the yet-to-be-completed 13.9 million US dollars official Vice Presidential House.

The rice of the building national attention when Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in late January 2017 revealed that the Mahama administration had started the construction of the building at the cost of $13.9million.

Addressing the audience at a Good Corporate Governance Initiative event at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra on Tuesday, 31 January, Dr Bawumia said that he was “shocked” when he was told of the price for the house, which, in his view, was “most likely sole-sourced”.

“…There was this brouhaha about the vice president’s residence, I’m sure you heard about that, so in the context of discussing this issue, there’s supposed to be a vice president’s residence under construction, official, so to speak, so, I asked the question: why is this project being delayed, why hasn’t it been finished? And they said: ‘Well, the contractor is owed a lot of money.’ I said: ‘Well how much is this money?’ And then I’m told it is actually a lot of money. How much is this house actually costing? And I was shocked when I was told. Can you believe in Ghana we are building a house to house our vice president and this house is supposed to cost $13.9million? I mean what sort of house is this supposed to be? I mean, is the gate made of gold, the pavement of gold, the blocks of gold? [A] house in Ghana for 13.9 million dollars? I couldn’t believe it. How many boreholes couldn’t we have done [with such an amount?]. Of course I’m 100 per cent sure it didn’t go through competitive tender otherwise we would have known about it. It was most likely sole-sourced and there it stands uncompleted, but this is just an example of many contracts that we don’t have value for money for …”, the VIce President said.

This was swiftly denied by members of the previous government including former presidential staffer, Dr Clement Apaak who disputed Dr Bawumia’s claim president saying the actual amount is way below what has been quoted.

Speaking on Starr FM a day after Dr Bawumia’s revelation, Dr Apaak who is now the Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa South, disclosed that the former administration earmarked only $5.9millon for the said house and not $13.9 million as has been alleged by the vice president.

The General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia is also on record to have quoted $3.5 million as the amount for the building and not $13.9m as the Vice President had put out.

Later information, however, revealed that Vice President Bawumia’s figure was likely the actual figure.

The Finder Newspaper published a financial statement covering the construction of the house from Architectural and Engineering Services Limited (AESL), Consultants for such government projects, which indicated that a total amount of $8,179,138.95 has been certified for payment with an outstanding amount of $5,789,113.71 left as the value of outstanding works leading many to agree with the Vice President that the cost of the building was inflated.

A little over a month after this publication, former NDC MP for Salaga, Ibrahim Dey, has reportedly confirmed this position with his accusation that Mr Kamara inflated the cost of a bungalow by $8million of which he [Kamara] pocketed $6million.

“What is happening in our party? Are we safe? …You see, if you know somebody in BNI, let’s tip them about Baba Kamara. You know that money issue, he [Kamara] was the one involved, the vice president’s house. He was the one involved”, Mr Dey is reported to have said in a leaked telephone conversation.

According to the former Salaga MP, then-Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur estimated $3.5million for the project which was later increased by $1.5million after but Mr Kamara in his capacity as the head of the National Security and on the blindside of Mr Amissah-Arthur, increased the amount by $8million more of which “he [Kamara] took $6million.”

Also, Mr Dey claimed tMr Kamara had parked six state cars at his Salaga residence and urged his partner in the conversation to blow the lid on the former National Security Adviser.

“What kind of person is this? Even with all this, he is still coming to take our common fund, he is still not satisfied. We must also leak tapes to the people we know because this is the chance that we have to deal with this guy once and for all. If you know any of the BNI [personnel], we’ll give him tapes, I mean those on the NPP’s side, to find a way to deal with this man,” Mr Dey reportedly said on the tape.