10 Must-Know Facts About the Pwalugu Dam Controversy – By Bright Simons

10 Must-Know Facts About the Pwalugu Dam Controversy

1. Parliament approved the $900M project in 2020, allocating funds for hydropower, irrigation, and solar energy.
2. The Finance Ministry pledged $91M but diverted funds, leaving only $12M disbursed.
3. The project became a political scandal, fueling the ORAL anti-corruption initiative.
4. Lenders like the World Bank refused funding, citing high costs and inefficiencies.
5. Ghana breached contract terms, leading to penalties and legal liabilities.
6. Instead of refunds, the contractor demands an extra $12M for unpaid invoices.
7. Politicians exaggerated benefits—flood prevention, drinking water, and cheap electricity were never part of the design.
8. Key policy trade-offs were ignored, making the project costly but impractical.
9. Canceling the contract without legal resolution risks arbitration and financial losses.
10. Ghana’s governance challenges persist—politics dominates policy, leading to wasteful projects and weak accountability.

So what?

“Fundamental to the process of lowering waste is the need to raise the stakes for politicians in high-resource policy decision-making. For that to happen, a critical mass of citizens must be as energised by policy options and tensions as the masses are about partisan politics in Ghana.” Bright Simons