The President has been charged 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.
Ranking Member of the Roads and Transport Committee, Kwame Governs Agbodza who made the call during an interview in Parliament on Wednesday, urged President Akufo-Addo not to pretend but to do his duty by giving credit to the originator of the project.
President Akufo-Addo is reportedly set to officially commission the newly constructed interchange on Friday 5th June 2020.
The Adaklu legislator accused the President of consistently taking credit for strategic projects initiated by his predecessor.
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“But Like the proverbial ostrich, he turns round to accuse his ‘benefactor’ of incompetence, and simply plunging Ghana into an abyss,” he said.
Outlining the chronology of the events relation 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.
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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 the 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 the previous government 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 of President John Mahama.
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Frontpageghana.com/Ghana/Uthman A. Marani
