President Akufo-Addo has shot down claims by his predecessor, Mr John Dramani Mahama, that he constructed a number of roads and other infrastructural projects during his tenure as president of Ghana, which is unprecedented in the annals of this country.
In an interview with Kumasi-based OTECH FM, which is the first private radio station in Ghana, Akufo-Addo argued that in spite of the declaration by Mr John Mahama that his infrastructure achievements for Ghana are unprecedented, everywhere he (Akufo-Addo) goes, Ghanaians are demanding for better roads. This, he continued, defeats Mahama’s unprecedented road infrastructure argument.
“When I took over the reins of government from John Mahama, he made an assertion that infrastructure development in his time was unprecedented. Soon after I took over, I embarked on a national tour and everywhere I went, Ghanaians told me of the bad nature of their roads. So it became obvious to me that the unprecedented infrastructure assertions by John Mahama were untrue”, the president stated.
Touching on the road network in Ashanti region, he explained that his government has completed 86 road projects covering 1,850 kilometres. Another 310 projects have been also been awarded on contract and currently being executed.
He lauded the roads minister, Kwasi Amoako Atta, saying “I do not think there is a minister who has a record like Kwasi Amoako Atta. There is nobody,” asking which road minister has put up the package of roads that Amoako Atta has done.
The president, however, acknowledged that owing to Ghana’s budget constraints, all roads cannot be worked on simultaneously.
President Akufo-Addo disclosed that in his first term as the president of Ghana, he was excellent, adding that the agricultural sector has recorded significant achievements in the midst of global challenges. He contended that there are no food shortages in the country, though he admitted that prices of foods have gone up.
On industrialisation of the Ghanaian economy, the president noted that under the ID1F programme, industries are springing up all over Ghana and that, out of the 295 factories projected, 120 have been realised.
Apart from this, he said the development at the automobile industry, where vehicles are being assembled in Ghana is worth celebrating.
All these developments, according to the president, happened under the watch of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, who steered the economy from stormy waters when he took over the reins of the country under IMF programme.
Akufo-Addo, therefore, rejected suggestions that he should sack Ofori Atta, saying he is competent.
On Ghana’s quest to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Akufo-Addo told the listeners that going to the IMF was a hard decision he had to take as the leader of this country.
“It was a difficult decision but I think that when you are in the chair you cannot be taking easy decisions which are going to compromise the welfare of your people down the line.
“We are going to come up with a budget for the country in the middle of the month. I hope that the IMF decision will be over – at least substantially, so that we would have a clear idea of the elements of the facts, which hopefully would feed into the budget and drive our budgetary projections from next year.”
Asked about when Ghana will exit the IMF programme , he noted the programme is ongoing in Washington and the finance minister will brief him fully when he gets back to Ghana to establish the kind of programme that Ghana struck with the IMF.
Touching on the expectation of the government concerning the credit bailout, the president told his listeners; “We are looking for programmes which will give us significant relief for our balance of payment support. Not just the IMF, but there are other important sovereign funds which we can access once we have the IMF certificate.”
