A former Mayor of Kumasi and a flagbearer hopeful of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kojo Bonsu, has debunked allegations that he made money from the construction of Rattray Park in Kumasi.
He said claims that he inflated the contract for the construction of the leisure park in the Ashanti Region.
“The budget for the Rattary Park was $4.4 million. That was the budget. But the actual expenditure as I was leaving the office was about GHc5.4million which if you do the equivalent translation is about $1.2million. That was the actual money spent. I want to clear this [misconception]. KMA never had the $4.4 million everybody think I squandered”, he told NDC supporters.
Last week the former CEO of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly announced his decision to contest for the flagbearer position of the NDC.
He made this known when he paid the founder of the NDC, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings a visit at his office in Accra.
Bonsu also said, “It was a budget and funding from funding sources like UDF, IDF and a lot of funding sources. So we took money from there. So the difference of actual spent money and budget is a totally different thing. KMA is a public office, and everybody can go there and check. We have made so much money and paid off the debt. At the moment KMA has collected a lot of inflows so you cannot say I squandered the money”.
Kojo Bonsu’s decision to contest his former boss John Dramani Mahama has drawn a lot of criticism from a lot of NDC stalwarts. The Greater Accra Regional Chairman, Ade Coker has called on him to rescind his decision.
But in a response, Bonsu said: “My experience at Ghana Oil, my experience as the Chairman of the National Sports Council, Mayor of Kumasi and the work I have done in Ghana, I wonder how somebody would say there is a question mark with my competence. I believe in myself. I think I have performed. And even with the NDC unity walk, I was able to bring thousands of people on the streets. When you do this, is it incompetence”.