The Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has revealed that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is a party that doubts the attainability of initiatives that are introduced by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
According to him, the opposition party has a habitual behavior of labelling promises of the Akuffo-Administration as unachievable.
“When we proposed the restoration of teacher trainee allowances, they said it was impossible. When we proposed the restoration of nursing trainee allowance, they said it was impossible. When we proposed free Senior High School (Free SHS) and free TVET, they said it was impossible.”
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
In a Facebook post, Dr. Bawumia wrote that when NPP suggested Agenda 111 to build hospitals in places without such facilities, NDC still doubted it’s possibility.
On Tuesday August 17, 2021, President Akuffo-Addo cut sod for the commencement of the Agenda 111 project in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
Subsequently, some officials from the NDC had come out to criticize the project.
John Dramani Mahama, the former flag bearer of the party, for instance described the initiative as an “afterthought”
During his ‘Thank You Tour’ Program in the Northern Regions, ex-President Mahama said that, “it is only an afterthought that suddenly they realized that they must be doing some infrastructure, and Agenda 111 has been conjured with no transparency as to how the money for the projects will be procured. Is it going to lead to more borrowing when we already have such a high level [of debt]?”
Also, the former Minister of Health, Alex Segbefia was of the view that the Agenda 111 is a repackaged project which the NDC government had already undertaken for several years. From ex-President Rawlings to the late President Atta-Mills.
However, the Vice President in response to all the criticisms expressed his gratitude for Ghana being gifted with a party and a President possessing a can-do spirit that has the tendency to transform the unattainable to achievable.
He further asked for God’s blessing to shower on Ghana.
Six hundred million cedis yet to be utilized
In a quest for transparency by the Minority in Parliament, the Finance Ministry explained that the 600 million cedis set aside for the Agenda 111 has not yet been utilized.
The Minority further demanded accountability on the monies spent as a result of the implementation of government’s strategy to establish 111 hospitals. They added that there is no information on any expenditure.
Ministry of Finance, however, disclosed in a statement that the 600 million cedis has been sent into the Agenda 111 project account at the Bank of Ghana. Meanwhile, government is expected to withdraw various amounts from the account adding that it will be controlled by the Ghana Infrastructure Fund (GIIF).
According to the statement from the Finance Ministry, the 600 million cedis was initially transferred to the Health Infrastructure Account at the Central Bank to fund the District and Regional Hospital projects last year, 2020.
Ministry of Finance further indicated that, the amount will be dispensed to contractors according to the project plan, hence forth.
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