Vice-President and flagbearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says the construction of the Pwalugu Multi-Purpose Dam will be a priority of his government if he is elected president.
The Multipurpose Dam and irrigation project sited between the Upper East and North East Regions is geared towards tackling the perennial flooding in Northern Ghana caused by the seasonal spillage of the Bagre Dam.
It is also aimed at providing water for irrigation of farms especially during the dry season and generating electricity.
In November, 2019, president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo accompanied by Dr. Bawumia and other high ranking government officials cut sod for the commencement of construction works on the project at a funfair durbar.
The project, which was awarded to a Chinese state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company, Sinohydro, was to be funded by the Government of Ghana (GoG) and completed in 4 years time from then.
But more than 4 years after that sod cutting, which was tagged historic, no significant work has been done at the site of the planned project with the contractor vacating the site.
Former president John Dramani Mahama, who accused the Akufo-Addo government of playing political gimmicks with the project, said the funding source for the construction of the dam is unreliable and thus, pledged to secure a dedicated source of funding to bring it to fruition if he wins the elections.
Sharing his vision for the country ahead of the campaign for the December polls, Dr. Bawumia stated that “I will prioritise the construction of the Pwalugu Dam by using private sector financing to crowd-in grant financing”.
The construction of the Multi-Purpose Dam, he indicated, is part of his grand plan of reducing cost of living through boosting agriculture to ensure food security and cost of energy through generating electricity from cheaper sources.
