Samuel Atta Akyea, former Minister of Works and Housing, has expressed optimism over the housing sector gaining priority in President Akufo-Addo’s second term.
According to him, the problems encountered by him as the Minister for Housing were due to the lack of resources which significantly affected his performance in the first term of the Akufo-Addo administration.
Mr. Atta Akyea maintained that, although he had a professional relationship with the current Finance Minister designate, Ken Ofori-Atta, he conveyed his dissatisfaction with the funds allocated to his Ministry.
Mr. Atta Akyea explained that his complaints were often ignored, with priority given instead to ensuring that government’s flagship programmes, Planting for Food and Jobs and the Free Senior High School policy were up and running.
“I have a good working relationship with Ken Ofori Atta. Every issue I had with him was dealt with upfront. I certainly had issues with him. I used to question him about the funds allocated to my Ministry.
“[Ken Ofori-Atta] told me that the kind of undertakings I had, for instance in housing, were very capital-intensive and not very debt-sustainable. So we should give ourselves sound space and housing will be at the front burner and that’s what we’re about to see now.
“The President is in his legacy years, and I’m tempted to believe that housing will become a priority. He’s going to do housing that will immortalize his name. I can see Akuffo-Addo flats happening in this country.”
The Abuakwa South legislator justified his sector’s non-performance further by stating that the funds allocated to the Works and Housing Ministry were sadly inadequate, particularly given the provisions to other Ministries.
“It’s obvious that when you look at the kind of loans that some of the Ministries had, measured against what I had to use for housing, to a very reasonable degree, I didn’t have any money for housing and that’s a fact. It was the perspective of the Finance Minister that it wasn’t our priority now. We were dealing seriously with Planting for Food and Jobs and Free SHS which were money-sucking.
“I didn’t agree, but I didn’t have a choice because of the hard fact that there’s a President who is determining what is a priority to him. If you pay regard to the Constitution, you are part of the government to help in policy so if you proffer a view which does not find favor with the President and Finance Minister, that’s the end of the matter.”
Samuel Atta Akyea
Mr. Atta-Akyea also rejected claims that his Ministry was “totally useless”, disclosing, however, that “it was minimized in terms of impact and focus in the area of housing”.
Francis Asenso-Boakye is a former Deputy Chief of Staff and Political Assistant to the President, and the current Minister-designate for Works and Housing. Pending his approval by the Appointments Committee, he along with Mr. Samuel Atta Akyea believe that the housing sector could see a bump in relevance in President Akufo-Addo’s second term.
