The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has apologized to the people of Cape Coast in the Central Region for his earlier submission that the NPP did not promise to construct a harbor in the region prior to the 2020 elections.
Speaking in an interview, he indicated that his comment regarding the construction of a harbor was a mistake. He explained that he was aware of the landing site promise in the NPP manifesto and indicated that he saw one page in the manifesto which talked about landing site but did not read further to see the harbor.
“Let me just confess it, I made a mistake. It was a mistake and I have to apologize to the people of Cape Coast, and the Central Region for that mistake. Presidents are humans and they are not supermen; they make mistakes”.
President Akufo-Addo
President Akufo-Addo averred that there needs to be some level of consideration on value for money with regards to the construction of the Cape Coast Harbor since the Elmina fishing harbor is being developed.
·The people of Cape Coast in particular have a lot of immediate socio-economic needs that the government can immediately tackle- Prof. Gyampo
President Akufo-Addo’s apology stems from his earlier submission in a recent interview that the NPP did not pledge to construct a harbor in the Central Region during his tour there. During the interview, he stated that the commitment was not to construct a harbor but rather it was to construct a landing site. However, he has retracted his statement and has rendered an apology.
Komenda sugar factory handled poorly by Mahama
Moving on, President Akufo-Addo criticized the poor management of the Komenda Sugar Factory under the erstwhile John Mahama administration. He asserted that Mahama’s mismanagement of the factory collapsed the sugar factory before he left government in 2016.
President Akufo-Addo posited that the whole planning of the Komenda Sugar Factory was wrong “from the get-go”. However, he disclosed that the factory will be up and running by February next year. He indicated that the Trade Minister, Alan Kyerematen, is reconfiguring the investment to revamp the factory.
“Immediately after its commission on the 30th of May, 2016, the factory was shut down because of lack of access to raw materials. And soon after the Transaction Advisor who was appointed by the then NDC government, came to try and assist the government to sell 70% of the shares in the factory”.
President Akufo-Addo
He refuted some claims by former President, John Mahama, regarding the factory and asked Mahama not to blame him for his mismanagement of the factory. He noted that a claim by the former President that his government secured $24 million is ridiculous.
“The money was there before he left office. Why didn’t he access it? The money was there before he left office but in fact, it was going to be difficult to access the money because the factory itself that he had built had collapsed. How are you going to go and tell people you want some more money when the thing that you built is in, itself, on the back fold”.
President Akufo-Addo
