Former president, John Dramani Mahama has rejected the government’s explanation for starting a new housing project instead of committing resources to completing the Saglemi Housing project, which was started under his administration.
In a post of on social media, Mr. Mahama said the Akufo-Addo administration simply abandoned the project because he and his government initiated it and will be credited if it is completed and put into use.
“Knowing the NPP government, they did not want to complete the Saglemi housing project simply because it was initiated by John Mahama and an NDC administration”.
He argued that “Leaders must always prioritise the well-being of their citizens and ensure that they benefit from government resources and projects, regardless of who initiated them”.
The Saglemi Housing project was started in 2016 as part of efforts to provide Ghanaians with affordable housing and reduce the country’s housing deficit.
Works on the project, however, stalled since the coming into office of the Akufo-Addo government.
The new government had accused officials of the erstwhile administration of misappropriation in the award of the contract and commenced investigation into the project and at the same time, suspended work on it.
The said officials have since been arraigned before court.
But speaking recently at a sod cutting ceremony for a new housing project in Pokuase in in the Greater Accra Region, president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said completing the project will be too costly to the state.
He stated that the government had intended to complete the project but an assessment it did revealed that an amount of $46 million will be required to finish up infrastructure works while another amount of $68 million will be needed to provide essential onsite projects like waste holding bay, sewage treatment plants and the development of socioeconomic and civic infrastructure such as schools and health facilities for inhabitants.
This, in addition to the $198 million already expended on the project, he argued, is too expensive for the state to bear and therefore, decided to dispose it of and start a new one.
But Mahama dismissed the president’s claims. According to the former president, it is unacceptable and a misplaced priority for the government to expend half a billion cedis on the construction of the infamous National Cathedral but fail to raise funds for the completion of the project, which could provide many Ghanaians with decent accommodation.
Mr. Mahama described the decision of the president and his government not to commit funds to the Saglemi project as a humiliating slap in the face of citizens who entrusted their welfare to them.
“The misplaced priorities of a government that claims it is unable to raise money to complete the Saglemi housing project and yet is willing to spend half a billion cedis on the largest civil excavation in Africa is a humiliating slap in the face of Ghanaians who entrusted Akufo Addo with their mandate”.
He continued, “just think about the countless number of Ghanaian families who could have had decent living conditions over the past 7 years and the individuals who could have had a place to truly call home in Saglemi”.
