The Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NOPRA), as part of a courtesy call on the Upper East Regional Minister, called for a full-scale investigation into the expenditure under the One-Village-One-Dam initiative, which has been described as a drain on the country.
NOPRA’s demand for investigation stems from its assessment of the policy that showed that about 400 dams constructed so far under the initiative are not fit for purpose.
The organization, after an assessment of the policy indicated that the expenditure on the dams, which averaged 670,000 cedis, can only be considered a wasteful venture since there is no value for money.
It would be recalled that in 2018, the Akuffu-Addo, led administration broke ground for the construction of dams under the 1V1D Initiative.
The policy was meant to bring dry season farming to the doorstep of local communities and make water available for other activities, including boosting animal production.
But nearly 7 years after the construction of the dams, NOPRA’s assessment showed that about 400 dams constructed in the Upper East, Upper West, Northern, Savannah, and North East Regions have dried up.
It is on this score that the Executive Director of NOPRA, Bismark Adongo Ayorogo called for an investigation into the 1V1D expenditure, which he describes as a complete drain of the country’s resources.
“We urge the Government to, as a matter of urgency and, in the name of promoting public resource accountability and value for money of pro-poor projects, demand accountability of all those who were involved in the implementation of the 1V1D projects in Northern Ghana. Issues of perceived corruption in the FSHS implementation need to be thoroughly investigated and those found culpable be brought to book,” h appealed.
On the Free SHS Program, Mr. Ayorogo said over 47 million cedis have been lost, and in Ghana’s North alone, 10 million cedis have been lost to procurement breaches.
“As a country, we also lost over Ghc 47 million and in Northern Ghana over Ghc 10 million to procurement irregularities in the implementation of the Free Senior High School from 2017 to 2023.”
Speaking during the courtesy call, the Upper East Regional Minister, Donatus Akamugri Atanga thanked the organization for monitoring various policies.
He called on them not to relent and continue to monitor such initiatives under the current administration, adding that the formation of the Operations Recover All Loot is an indication of the government’s desire to deal with irregularities.
