Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has described as shameful President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s claiming credit for the Tema Motorway Interchange.
He condemned the President for again refusing to acknowledge the contribution of his predecessor when he commissioned the project last Friday.
According to the MP, Nana Akufo-Addo’s refusal to acknowledge the works of his predecessor during the commissioning is as shameful as taking credit for these projects.
Mr. Kwame Agbodza, in an interview last Friday in Parliament, argued the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is the Party of Infrastructure and President Mahama, the Captain of the Infrastructure Team.
Ghanaians, he sa appreciate the critical interventions President Mahama made in providing relevant social infrastructural projects across all sectors to augment Ghana’s socio-economic development.
He said, “The Meridian Port Services (MPS) Tema Port Expansion project, Terminal 3 at Kotoka International Airport, the Kumasi and Tamale Airport Expansion projects, the newly built Ho Airport which has been left unused, the Volivo, Pokuase and Obetsebi Lamptey Interchanges, just to mention a few.”
“It is evidently clear that many of these projects provide opportunities for sustainable job creation, revenue to the State, and improved standard of living,” he stated.
President Akufo-Addo, he said, must do the right thing by acknowledging the work his predecessor has done in the road sector.
He charged him to set the records straight by admitting he inherited the Tema Motorway Interchange project fully funded and commend John Dramani Mahama for initiating the project.
Outlining the chronology of the events related to the Tema Motorway Interchange, Mr. Agbodza noted that President Mahama initiated a plan to tie the MPS Port expansion Project with the reconstruction of the Accra-Tema Motorway with interchanges as part of strategic plans to ease congestion in the cities.
“Meridian Port Service (MPS) proposed to carry out the Motorway reconstruction as part of the Port Expansion. However, preparation for the Motorway component delayed.”
“As a result, MPS decided to focus on its core mandate and went ahead with the port expansion Project, which is now completed and is in use.”
According to him, President Mahama sought donor support from the Japanese government for a three-tier Interchange at the Tema end of the Motorway, following upgrading works at the Tema Motorway Roundabout by MPS.
The Japanese, he said, agreed to support Ghana and initiated the process of building the Interchange.
According to him, the preparatory survey and the design outline were validated by JICA in 2016 before the change of government in 2017 and stressed the processes carried out from then were all consequential.
He argued that the provision of Article 35(7) of Constitution which states, ‘…as far as practicable, a government shall continue and execute projects and programmes commenced by the previous government…’ does not mean the contribution of previous governments should be ignored.
“The intention of this particular clause is not to wish away the contributions of previous governments in relation to particular projects, in this case the Tema Motorway Interchange,” he said.
He urged President Akufo-Addo to therefore not pretend but do his duty and give credit to the excellent work President John Mahama has done.
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Frontpageghana.com/Ghana/By Uthman A. Marani
