Empty, grandiose and unfulfilled promises, laced with slogans are visible legacies of Akufo-Addo gov’t in Bono – Asiedu Nketiah

Three term former Member of Parliament for Tain, a native of the Bono Region and the National Chairman for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Hon Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has described the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia led NPP government as ”deceitful” to the people of the Bono Region.

Mr Nketiah made this statement in a brief media engagement in Sunyani on Wednesday, 22nd November, 2023 at the Chesville Hotel.

The National Chairman for the NDC in his statement indicated that the Bono Region under the current NPP government has not seen any improvement from what were left behind by the NDC government and called on the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP led government to honour their promises to the Bono Region.

”Friends from the media, almost all the campaign promises made to this region by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government have turned out to be pipe dreams. Empty grandiose, unfulfilled promises, laced with slogan are the visible legacies of the current government in the Bono Region.

The National Chairman for the NDC added that ”road network in the regional capital – Sunyani and other parts of the area has not seen any improvement from what was left behind by the erstwhile Mahama/NDC government; educational, health and other infrastructure are in disrepair”.

According to Mr Nketiah, the seven years into the life of this government, the people of the Bono Region continue to be served with the same old and empty promises. The most recent is a dubious sod-cutting undertaken by President Akufo-Addo to convert the Sunyani Regional Hospital into a Teaching Hospital.

According to the National Chairman, it is an undisputable fact that the NDC is the tradition that is credited with constructing three regional hospitals located in Cape Coast, Ho, and Sunyani under President Jerry John Rawlings. He added that, under the supervision of President Mills, the NDC rolled out a policy to convert all three regional hospitals and the already existing Tamale Regional hospital into teaching hospitals.

”Consistent with our conversion policy, the NDC opened a medical school in Cape Coast and converted the Cape Coast hospital into a teaching hospital. Under President Mills, the NDC built University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) in Ho and subsequently converted the Ho hospital into a teaching hospital. We also opened a medical school at the University of Development Studies (UDS) at Tamale.

Mr Nketiah further disclosed that ”a program for the expansion of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) here in Sunyani to include a medical school before the conversion of the Sunyani Regional hospital into a Teaching hospital was underway before the NDC exited office in 2016.

”Regrettably, all these plans were abandoned when the New Patriotic Party took over the reins of government in 2017. This, he said, was very worrying even though we have had a son of the Bono and MP for Dormaa Central, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, serve as Minister of Health in the last seven years”.

Mr Nketiah further accused the former Education Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh of abandoning plans to establish medical school at UENR with a single reason of UENR to concentrate on its so called core mandate. He expressed surprised as to why the Health Minister and President Akufo-Addo could not prevail on the Education Minister to change his mind to implement these plans to establish medical school at UENR.

”The program, which was abandoned was reinstated upon assumption of office by the current Education Minister, Dr Yaw Adutwum. Still, unfortunately, no budget allocation has since been made towards its realization by the failed Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government” he added.

The Sunyani Regional Hospital on Saturday, 18th November, 2023 was launched by the Health Minister as a Teaching Hospital promising to resource the hospital in due time to reflect its current status as a teaching hospital.

At the ceremony, Dwenim Manhene, Nana Bofo Bene ||, representing the President of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs, Osagyefo Oseadeyo Agyemang Badu ||, appealed to the government to go beyond the name change and ensure that the hospital gets the needed assistance to grow to become what a teaching hospital should be.