The National Democratic Congress has dismissed claims by the Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide that former President John Dramani Mahama had, under his regime also cut sod for the commencement of projects without securing for same, a practice the former President has described as deceitful tactics by the current government for votes.
In a Press Release signed by Sammy Gyamfi, the Communication Officer of NDC, the party described as palpable falsehood claims made by Mr. Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako, which was published on various news portals, that former President Mahama under his administration cut sod for the commencement of the Tema Motorway Interchange project when there was no available funding for the project.
It said in the Release that although funding for the project was secured and preparatory works had begun under the Mahama-led administration, the former President did not perform any sod cutting ceremony for the commencement of the project under his reign.
The party clarified that John Dramani Mahama had cut sod for the construction of two projects, one of which is linked to the Tema Motorway, in November 2016 and not the Tema Motorway Interchange project.
“Mr. Baako’s claim that (former) President Mahama cut the sod for the Tema Motorway Interchange project when no budgetary allocation or funding was available for same is palpable falsehood. The facts shows that even though the preparatory works and funding for the said projects was secured by the erstwhile NDC/Mahama government, H. E John Dramani Mahama never cut the sod for the commencement of the projects when he was the President of the Republic of Ghana between the period of 2013 to January 7, 2017,” the release stated.
The party also described as untenable Mr. Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako’s view that the sod-cutting ceremony performed by Mr. Mahama for the commencement of the Second Phase of the Kumasi Airport Expansion project was unnecessary since certain conditions precedent were yet to be met.
It opined that since the funding for the project was secured, which it said Mr. Baako acknowledged, and there was a contractor on site, the unfulfilled conditions do not contradict Mr. Mahama’s statement that he vowed never to cud sod for a project unless there was a contractor on site as result of lessons he learnt from the delayed commencement of the Upper West Regional Hospital project.
While dismissing what it termed as desperate attempts by Mr. Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako and government communicators to “parry this important issue and create false impression that President Mahama is equally guilty of the practice of fake sod-cutting ceremonies,” the party is demanding a retraction and an unqualified apology to be rendered for the “false” claims.
Mr. Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako made the said claims when he appeared as a guest on Accra based Peace FM morning talking show. The veteran Journalist reacting to accusation by former President Mahama that the Akufo-Addo government has been cutting sod for projects without funding for the construction as a ploy to entice electorates for votes said the Mahama administration did similar sod-cutting prior to the 2016 elections without securing funding for the projects.
He mentioned the Tema Motorway Interchange as a project which Mr. Mahama cut sod for its commencement in November, 2016 without funding. Mr. Baako who described the sod-cutting for the 2nd Phase of the Kumasi Airpot Expansion as needless said the sod-cutting was done for political gains. Although parliament approved the loan for the project, Mr. Kweku Baako asserted that there were number of conditions precedent that the government was required to meet before the loan agreement could take effect.
