A fellow at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr. Kwame Sarpong Asiedu, has criticised the practice of politicians commissioning projects before they are officially transferred to the state.

According to him, public projects must go through a formal handover process where contractors, consultants, and state representatives inspect the facility, address any remaining defects and finalise payments before the state assumes ownership.

"When you are building any facility, ...the contractor would have to transfer the project to the state. At the end of the contract, the state would meet with the contractor together with the consultant.

"....They will inspect all the project and sometimes something might not be done properly, so there is a term called snagging, so they will try and do the snags to make sure that everything is up to speed," he said on JoyFM on Wednesday, March 5.

However, he noted that politicians often sidestep these procedures for political gain.

“Sometimes politicians do some of these things and they commission things when actually, the thing is not technically in the possession of the state,” he asserted.

Dr. Asiedu recalled a project in Sewuah where a contractor publicly objected to its commissioning because the government had not officially taken ownership.

“Before they were aware, some ribbons had been put up, and the project had been commissioned,” he noted.

He condemned this approach, stating that while politicians misuse their power to commission projects that are not yet legally state-owned.

“They use the arms of power because they think they have power and can do whatever they want. But the reality is that after they have done that commissioning, they cannot take over the property because the processes have not been completed,” he stressed.

Dr. Asiedu called for greater transparency and adherence to due process, urging authorities to ensure that projects are fully completed and properly handed over before any commissioning ceremonies take place.

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