President John Mahama’s mantra of massive infrastructure investment is nothing more than a hoax, a ploy to hoodwink Ghanaians into retaining him in office Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said.
Likening the president to a mason who inherits a good foundation but destroys it, the New Patriotic Party Vice presidential candidate said president John Mahama cannot be trusted to build a house.
He said contrary to the president’s claim that a solid foundation has been laid in his first tenure and must be given another opportunity to complete his job, the president has rather replaced the solid foundation he inherited from Kufuor with a “weak foundation of straw”.
“If you allow Mahama another four year term he will tell you he has laid a foundation for takeoff. How many foundations are needed for this building to be built?” Bawumia mocked the president much to the delight of a partisan NPP crowd who converged at the National Theater for a lecture on the Economy, Thursday.
Dr Bawumia shredded the government’s achievements on infrastructure, economy, describing Mahama’s tenure as the “worst period of economic performance.”
In a frenzied atmosphere, pregnant with shouts and sloganeering from party supporters, the NPP vice presidential candidate said even though the Mahama administration was blessed with unprecedented amount of resources in loans, taxes and grants since independence the country turned out worse off.
Dr Bawumia said if the Mahama government were a competent one, the $33 billion it borrowed would have solved Ghana’s water problems, energy problems, agricultural problems, asphalted a 1000 kilometer of roads in every region of Ghana, built over 600 Senior High Schools across the country and still be left with more money for other development project.
On the contrary, he noted the country went through five years of darkness under this same administration, with Mahama struggling to put up just ten of the 200 SHS he promised.
Dr Bawumia said a huge chunk of the $33 billion had been sunk into corruption and over pricing of contracts.
Legon Vrs Ridge hospital comparison
According to Dr Mahamudu the University of Ghana took some $217 million loan from the Isreali government to build a 600 bed teaching hospital at Legon. However the cost of that building is $30 million less than what the government is using to renovate and expand the Ridge Hospital from 200 bed to 420 bed. How possible is this?
“I saw two identical teachers bungalow constructed in Dambai Teacher training College this year. One constructed by the NPP in 2007 and the other by the NDC in 2011. These two buildings are side by side. The one constructed by the NPP COST 195,000 but the NDC one cost 900,000 cedis. It is the same building, the same design, the same specification and on the same land. So what accounted of this huge difference?”
He said the Tamale airport runway rehabilitation costed $23.8 million whereas the proposed new airport in Ho is going to cost $25 million. And it is on record Ethiopia is building a new airport at $21 million, he added.
In an allegory, Dr Bawumia said the NDC government led by John Mahama is like a man who has been given money, but ends up putting up a huge building without a roof, and when there is rain, or his children are hungry or sacked from school for school fees, he turns around pointing to the building as an investment for them.
This is not a man in whose hands the destiny of the country must be entrusted, he stated and called on Ghanaians to vote a man he described as incorruptible, honest and competent to steer the affairs of the country.
He said an NPP leader under Akufo-Addo will have a better eye on the economy by building the most business friendly and people friendly economy for all Ghanaians.
He said there will be increase agriculture productivity due to prudent measures the government will undertake, provide more credit to entrepreneurs and restore macro-economic stability if voted to power.
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