Prez Akuffo Addo Has Diverted $98m Of Road Funds Meant For The Construction Of Adawso- Ekyi Amanfrom- Donkorkrom Roads To His Stronghold –says 2 NDC Mps

Hon. Betty Nana Efua Krosbi Mensah MP for Afram Plains North and Hon. Joseph Appiah Boateng, MP for Afram Plains South are accusing President Akufo-Addo of diverting funds meant for the construction of roads in their constituencies to construct roads in constituencies that are strongholds of his party, the NPP.

In a joint statement, the two MPs explain that in February 2022, the Minister for Roads and Highways and the Minister of Finance in a joint memorandum brought a loan agreement to parliament for approval for the construction of a bridge from Ekyi to Amanfrom, the rehabilitation of the Ekyi- Donkorkrom road as well as the Bunso – Obuoho road under the Deutsche Loan Facility.

“It’s very sad, unfortunate and disheartening to read from the Ministry of Roads and Highway and the Ministry of Finance through a letter signed by the Secretary to the President, Mr Asante Bediatuo, calling on parliament to suspend plans for the construction of the roads per the initial agreement approved by Parliament. Currently, the government is making arrangements to divert the approved funds for the construction of by-passes on the ACCRA- KUMASI road from Osino to Konongo which is purely politically motivated” they said.

According to them, this decision by the government will deprive the people of the Afram plains off their share of the national cake and also worsen their living conditions as a result of the deplorable state of the roads.

“The government whilst bringing the agreement stated explicitly why we must prioritize the road network in Afram plains; to provide food security in the country since most of the cities and towns all get their food supplies from Afram plains, and also, because the inhabitants of Afram plains have been cut off from the rest of the country due to physical access and lastly lack of connecting roads to other parts of the country leaving the ferry as the only means of transport”, they said.

They demanded to know from the president what happened to all the stated priorities to bring the road to Afram Plains. They condemned the President’s U-turn describing it as “unfortunate” and “politically motivated” which will deprive the people of the Afram Plains of better living conditions.

Hon. Betty Nana Efua Krosbi Mensah and Joseph Appiah Boateng assert that since its inception in 2017, the Akufo-Addo Bawumia government has clearly and in many cases shown its bias against the good people of Afram Plains.

“We can all recall how the previous government made an arrangement with legal backing for the construction of a University Of Environment And Sustainable Development (USED) campus in Donkorkrom; this was hijacked and taken to Bunso in the Eastern Region where the President hails from. That is one of the unfair treatments given to us by the president of the republic. We tried every means to get our university back but all prove futile” the two MPs recalled.

“As the saying goes once bitten twice shy; we will like to state categorically to the president through his ministers that we will not sit down for this to repeat itself. We are therefore calling on the good people of the Afram plains and sympathizers to rally behind us to stop the diversion of the 98 million Dollars road fund to the stronghold of the NPP once again. Afram Plains also deserves development and its share of the national cake” the two MPs said.