The proposed Vice-Presidential Villa in Ghana's capital, Accra, has been abandoned for 13 years, leaving taxpayers without clear answers about the project's cost, why it stalled, and whether the site can still be used for its intended purpose. The project began in November 2013, with a contract awarded to CONSAR Limited by the government of President John Mahama. The original contract sum was $3,563,884.50, with construction expected to be completed by May 2015.
Documents obtained by The Fourth Estate show that the government paid CONSAR Limited $2,425,752.21 within the first five months of work beginning, representing about 68% of the original contract sum. It is unclear why more than two-thirds of the contract amount was paid so early or how much work had been completed at the time. According to Architectural and Engineering Services Limited (AESL), the project consultant, construction stalled after the change of government following the 2016 elections.
There is still no publicly reconciled account of the project's total cost, with at least three markedly different figures associated with the project. In 2017, then Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia questioned reports that the residence would cost $13.9 million. Nana Akomea, then communications director of the governing New Patriotic Party, presented what he said was an AESL document showing a total project cost of about $13.97 million.
The then opposition National Democratic Congress disputed that account, with Clement Apaak, the MP for Builsa South, telling Starr FM in February 2017 that the Mahama administration had budgeted $5.9 million for the residence, not the $13.9 million cited by Dr Bawumia. The competing accounts left three figures attached to the same unfinished residence: the original contract sum of $3.56 million, the $5.9 million the NDC said had been budgeted, and the nearly $14 million cited by Dr Bawumia and Mr Akomea.
A government official familiar with the project told The Fourth Estate that the area surrounding the compound had changed considerably since construction began, with several multi-storey apartment buildings constructed nearby, some of them overlooking the proposed residence. The official said these developments could pose security risks and may have made the property unsuitable as the official home of the Vice-President.
Even if the government resumes construction, it may have to determine whether the original design and location still meet the security requirements of the country's second-highest political office. For now, the buildings remain behind the walls of the overgrown compound: unfinished, unused, and without a definitive public account of how much they have cost.
The project's condition leaves three unanswered questions: How much has the state spent? Why was the residence never completed? And, after 13 years of change around it, can it still serve the purpose for which millions of dollars have already been spent? The government has yet to provide a clear public account reconciling the different figures associated with the project.
Key points
- The proposed Vice-Presidential Villa has been abandoned for 13 years, despite over $2.4 million spent on its construction.
- There are conflicting accounts of the project's total cost, ranging from $3.56 million to nearly $14 million.
- The project's location may no longer be suitable due to surrounding developments that pose security risks.
