Hon. Michael Kwasi Aidoo Defends GARID Project, Accuses Franklin Cudjoe of ‘Selective Outrage

Member of Parliament for Oforikrom, Hon. Michael Kwasi Aidoo, has responded to a defence piece on the GARID Project by Mr. Franklin Cudjoe, describing it as consistent with Cudjoe’s position over the past year and accusing him of misunderstanding how World Bank projects are managed.

In a statement titled _“THE DEFENCIVE CSO’s: A SAD REALITY”_, Hon. Aidoo said Cudjoe’s write-up attempts to paint a picture of misuse of World Bank funds under the GARID Project, but argued that a careful reading of Cudjoe’s own figures, combined with how World Bank projects are supervised, reveals a different story.

*World Bank supervision and approved expenditures*

Hon. Aidoo said World Bank-funded projects “do not operate in a vacuum” and are supervised through field visits, audits, and regular reports. “Every dollar spent whether on training, consultancies, vehicles, or COVID-19 reallocations must first be approved by the World Bank as part of the project’s scope,” he stated.

He cited the Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework, Procurement Regulations, and fiduciary controls as ensuring “that no expenditure is made without prior agreement and ongoing oversight.”

He described Cudjoe’s implication that US$22.1 million on training, US$7.9 million on consultancies, and US$1.68 million on vehicles represents “misuse” as misleading. “These are standard, legitimate components of a major World Bank project. Training builds local capacity. Consultancies provide essential technical expertise. Vehicles enable field supervision and monitoring. The World Bank approved these expenditures because they are necessary preliminaries before large-scale infrastructure work can begin. To call them ‘waste’ is to misunderstand how development projects are designed,” he said.

*COVID-19 reallocation and audits*

Hon. Aidoo said Cudjoe “conveniently ignores that the World Bank itself agreed to the reallocation of funds to COVID-19 response US$60.8 million in 2020,” noting that “the Bank’s rules explicitly allow for such reallocations when a crisis arises” and that “the Bank supervised that spending.”

“If the previous administration used these funds for their approved purposes, there is no misuse. If there was any irregularity, it would have been flagged by the Bank’s own audits yet he provides no evidence of any such finding,” he stated.

He added: “At least what his write up exposes is the persistent lie that Mrs Cecilia Dapaah has blown any GARID funds.”