The Greater Accra chapter of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), is demanding accountability from the Akufo-Addo government following the approval of $200 million and the latest approval of $150 million dollars by Parliament, for the Greater Accra Resilience Integrated Development Project (GARID).
A press release issued by the NDC Greater Accra on Monday, May 27 2024, indicates that issues of perennial floods in the city of Accra were scheduled to be resolved under the GARID project since 2019.
The NDC recalls an earlier made approval of $200 million dollars lent to Ghana by the World Bank in 2019 to kick start the flood mitigation project. The NDC marked the emergence of major flood cases in Accra as an evident neglect of the GARID project by the Akufo-Addo government. “The rains are here with us and Accra is arguably experiencing the worst of flooding with its attendant loss of lives and properties running into millions of cedis.”
The release which was signed by NDC Regional Communications Officer, Jerry Johnson questioned the recent approval of $150 million dollars on Friday, May 17, 2024 as an additional fund to undertake the activities outlined under the GARID project. “Unfortunately this is happening at a time when the NPP, using its majority in Parliament has approved an additional loan of $150 million on Friday, May 17, 2024 purportedly meant to execute the same project in fulfilment of their campaign to promise.”
According to the release, deeper interrogations prove that the approved $65 million dollars out of the latest approval has been transferred into Ghana’s COVD Fund which violates the requirements of the Public Financial Management Act 2016.
The NDC representing the minority caucus in parliament described the approved $150 million dollars, and the latest tranche into the COVID Fund as a flagrant misappropriation of public funds by the Akufo-Addo government. “We stand in solidarity with the Minority MPs in boycotting the approval of the additional $150 million as a protest against the flagrant misappropriation of public funds by the NPP government.”
With this approval, the NDC arrived at a total of $350 million dollars allocated to the project and reiterated that it must be solely used for the execution of the GARID project. “If the government had the least of care for the people in Accra, they would have applied the entire amount of $350 million dollats in total to the GARID project which was meant to mitigate the incidence of flooding in Accra.”
The NDC confidently described the prominent campaign promise of the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa-Akufo Addo to make Accra the cleanest city in West Africa as part of a ruse to rake in the support of the people, as the filth from areas like the Odaw River majorly contribute to the floods in Accra.
The NDC upon this premise demand full accountability of the on the $200 million and the subsequent $150 million dollars approved by Parliament for the GARID project in Accra. “We believe in prioritizing the safety and security and of the people of Greater Accra just as we do for other regions in Ghana; therefore in our view, state resources meant to alleviate the plight of the people must not be misappropriated hiding behind COVID and other social interventions.”
