A deputy national communications director of the governing New Patriotic Party, Maame Yaa Aboagye, has chastised the opposition National Democratic Congress for its pessimism expressed against the government’s ‘Agenda 111’ project.
She has accordingly called on the opposition party to “take its doubting Thomas spirit away from the agenda 111 initiative.”
“The President has delivered on bold, unprecedented initiatives such as Free SHS, 1 District, 1 Factory, 1 Constituency, 1 Ambulance, and Planting for Food and Jobs. The success of Agenda 111 will cause the good people of Ghana to reject the NDC for good,” she said.
Visionary
Speaking in an interview with the media yesterday, Ms Aboagye noted that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had proven to be visionary.
Describing the President as “covenant-keeping President”, Ms Aboagye noted that no amount of pessimism expressed by the opposition would sway the Akufo-Addo government from delivering on its promises to the people of Ghana.
Agenda 111
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday cut sod for the commencement of construction of some 111 district and regional hospitals, dubbed ‘Agenda 111’, which he has described as the biggest ever investment in the nation’s healthcare sector.
The project will involve the construction of 101 district hospitals, the construction of seven regional hospitals for the new regions, including a new one for the Western Region, the construction of two new psychiatric hospitals for the Middle Belt and Northern Belt, respectively, and the rehabilitation of the Effia-Nkwanta Hospital in the Western Region
Addressing the sod cutting ceremony at Trede, in the Atwima Kwanwoma District of the Ashanti Region, President Akufo-Addo indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic did not only disrupt lives and livelihoods, but also exposed the deficiencies of the nation’s healthcare system, because of years of under-investment and neglect.
With 88 out of the 101 sites identified for the commencement of work on the construction of the district hospitals, he assured that the acquisition of the remaining 13 sites would be completed shortly for work to begin.
“Each hospital is being constructed at a cost of US$16.88 million, that is US$12.88 million for construction and US$4 million for medical equipment. All the hospitals are to be completed in 18 months. Work will commence on the regional and other hospitals in the latter part of the year,” he assured.
Opposition
The opposition NDC has, since the commencement of the projects, been casting aspersion against it.
Former President Mahama, who has described the project as ‘afterthought’, has said it will only increase Ghana’s public debt. Speaking on GBC Radio in the Upper East, as part of his thank-you tour of the region, Mr Mahama said there is no transparency in the implementation of the project.
“It is only an afterthought that suddenly they realized that they must be doing some infrastructure, and Agenda 111 has been conjured with no transparency as to how the money for the projects are going to be procured.
“Is it going to lead to more borrowing when we already have such a high level [of debt]?” he questioned.
For their part, Brogya Genfi, a former Ashanti regional youth organiser of the NDC, and a former deputy minister of information, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, insist the project is a ‘scam’.
Meanwhile, a former Minister of Health under the Mahama administration, Mr Alex Segbefia, has said that President Akufo-Addo has packaged the NDC idea to build hospitals in each district, and named it Agenda 111.
But Maame Yaa Aboagye maintains the NDC is only exhibiting its pessimism against all developmental projects initiated and implemented by the NPP.
About The Author
