Local contractors to get 70% of government jobs – Ghana's VP

The Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has said 70% of all government contracts will be awarded to local contractors.

The gesture is part of the President Nana Akufo – Addo led administration’s commitment to boost the confidence of Ghanaian businesses in an effort to create a pathway for building a sustainable economy.

He reiterated the fact that most of the administration’s initiatives over the last six months have been geared towards promoting investment in Ghana’s economy.

He continued that the administration is, “moving very quickly to formalize [the] economy along three pillars – building a national ID system, bringing a digital address system and having interoperability of payment”.

The Vice President’s comments  however contradicts a statement by the country’s Minister for Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea barely two weeks ago, claiming that local contractors consistently fall short of benchmarks in the execution of projects assigned to them.

Mr. Atta Akyea told leaders of Ghana’s Engineering Council that, “for the engineer, who is outside, it is a legacy, so that your name is permanently written…but for the Ghanaian engineer, it’s not like that. He is trying to look at situations to make good money and leaving us a shoddy job”. Hence, it would be the government’s priority to award contracts to foreign contractors.

However, the Vice President and Chairman of the President Akufo Addo economic team has reassured the Ghanaian public that government will ensure that 70% of ‘tax payer - funded’ contracts goes to the local contractors.