Outspoken mining engineer, mineral economist and former NPP-California, USA Deputy Secretary, Dr Solomon Owusu, has challenged President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo to catalog all his 1,824 projects in the Ashanti Region for public scrutiny.
Dr Owusu has asked the President to give a detailed explanation, costs and stages of the supposed 1,824 projects that his administration has undertaken in the Ashanti Region for Ghanaians to authenticate their existence.
According to Solomon, the President disseminated a politically smeared message to the Asantehene when he visited the wise King at his Manhyia Palace in Kumasi.
Expressing his views on a diaspora radio station, Dr Owusu admonished Ghanaians abroad, especially the Ashantis to disregard the President’s message and demand the list of all the projects located in each constituency so that Ghanaians back home can cross-check their location and the progress of each project.
According to him, the president has disappointed Asanteman where the NPP party wins lots of its votes and he had no other option than to fabricate untruths to the Ashantis on projects because he had nothing to show in the region.
The outspoken former NPP executive said the president had rather abandoned most of the projects initiated by the previous NDC government.On Monday, September 28, 2020, the President paid a courtesy call on Asantehene Otumfour Osei Tutu II where he introduced all the 47 NPP parliamentary candidates to the King.
Presenting his achievements to the Asantehene at that meeting, President Akufo-Addo said his government had undertaken 1,824 projects in Ashanti Region alone including 606 water and sanitation projects, 604 education projects, 151 road projects, 92 health projects, one aviation and port projects.
In all, the president mentioned 1,455 projects living 369 projects of 1,824 unaccounted for.
Criticizing the inconsistencies in the President’s speech, Dr Owusu said the difference in the figures between the total of 1,824 projects as against the actual figure of 1,455 the President announced raised a red flag.
He interpreted the disparity to mean a concoction of numbers with deceitful intent to convince Asanteman for votes.
In his opinion, the President has scored less than 15% in infrastructural development in Ashanti Region as compared with Ex-President Mahama who built schools, roads, markets, hospitals, water reservoirs and airports, among others.
The Asantehene after listening to the President told him the people will vote based on the good works of each candidate, inferring that the President’s vote in the region will determine his votes on Election Day.
Commenting on the Asantehene’s delivery, Dr Owusu said the proverbial and wise speech by Otumfour suggests that he restrained himself from stating the below-par performance of the government, opining that he cautioned the President to improve on his governance strategy to lessen the hardships Ghanaians.
“This government has nothing to show in Obuasi, Tarkwa, Dunkwa and all the other mining towns, except poverty, poor roads and poor living conditions,” Dr Owusu suggested.
The Ashanti Region is known to be the traditional stronghold of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) but according to Dr Owusu, the Akufo-Addo-led government has poorly performed in the region than any past governments.
“Lots of the residents in this region are engaged in small-scale mining, illegal mining (galamsey), auto mechanic and auto electric businesses, vehicle spare parts business, small business and other businesses but unfortunately, this government has collapsed the mining business and subjected residents in mining areas to unprecedented hardships,” he lamented.
He also noted that the NPP administration has collapsed the local banks, where these small business owners acquired loans in the past.
He said the government’s recent decision to ban the importation of salvage cars into the country will immensely affect auto mechanics, auto electricians and spare parts businesses in Ghana, especially those in Suame-Magazine in Kumasi who voted massively for the then-candidate Akufo-Addo during the 2016 elections.
He projected in his submission that the car dealership business in Ghana will collapse, if Ghanaians made the mistake to vote for President Akufo-Addo on December 7th.
Expressing his regrets for supporting the President in the 2016 elections, Dr Owusu said the government didn’t care about the welfare of the people but rather about “selfish and greedy ventures”, leading to the alarming rate of corrupt practices Ghanaians witness every day.
The outspoken mining engineer, as part of his submission, advised Ghanaians to vote against President Akufo-Addo for disappointing the nation.
Source: The Herald
