A former General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly called Sir John, says President John Dramani Mahama cannot secure a better future for Ghanaians, because he is a threat to the country’s peace and security.
“He is a threat not only because he is a tribalist, but more so because he kills hope. Corruption kills and if corruption kills then the man whose greedy hands are constantly on the trigger of corruption must be stopped, to stop corruption killing Ghana,” he stated.
Addressing the press in Accra yesterday, Mr. Afriyie was optimistic Ghana could perform four times better without President Mahama, as he accused the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) of spending four times more than what the country needed to develop.
“If his government can be this corrupt, reckless, uncaring and incompetent when he knew he would be facing re-election in 2016, then just imagine what he would be if given a final term where he would not have to worry about re-election. I fear for Ghana,’ he cried out.
Sir John questioned the ideological leaning of the NDC, revealing that even though the party often touted its social democratic principles, the party cared less about the welfare of the masses.
Instead, he said the strategy and real motivation of the NDC was to rig their way into political life so they could loot state coffers to enrich themselves, their friends, families and close associates.
“Ghanaians now live under the era where the pitiful plight of the poor has now been capitalized on by the President and his friends and family.
“Today, the people of La are on a demonstration because they claim their lands are being stolen by the same Mahama, friends and family,” he disclosed.
The man who drew the country’s attention to the need to ‘fear’ delegates’, touched on sole sourcing which the Mahama government had used in the award of most contracts, saying the government had shoved aside laid-down procedure without recourse to due diligence.
“These contracts often go to friends and family members who often do not even have the requisite know-how to carry through with the job. This has resulted in instances where contracts have been awarded and abandoned midway, and because these awardees happen to be friends and family members of His Royal Highness Dramani, no efforts are made to hold them to account,” he alleged.
Sir John made specific mention of the construction of boreholes, which contract he said the Mahama-led administration awarded as though they deserved immediate attention. That aside, he descended on the party on the price tag, which he believed was inflated.
“…the price-tag for a mechanized bore-hole, according to players in the industry, should not be more than GH¢18,000, irrespective of the area or location.
“To drill a mechanized borehole, it ranges between GH¢12,000 and GH¢18,000 anywhere in Ghana on the open market,” he stated.
“As a matter of fact, a company like Animax Drilling Company of Ghana, quotes a mechanized bore-hole within the Greater Accra Region at GHc14,000 and a maximum of GHc18,000 is quoted for same in any part of the country, irrespective of area, location and soil make-up,” he added.
He juxtaposed the figure with what the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), for example quoted as its unit cost and that was four times more.
The PURC sought to construct 500 boreholes at the cost of GHC30 million, instead of GHC 9 million, if calculated on the cost as quoted by the former General Secretary.
“Going by the maximum Animax quotation of GH¢18,000 per borehole in the remotest part of the country, the 500 bore-holes would have amounted to GH¢9m and not GH30m.
“So, in all, the contract offered on sole-sourcing by PURC, has been bloated by at least GH¢21m,” he explained.
He, therefore, called on Ghanaians not to make a mistake and fail to remove “this corrupt, inept, insensitive and visionless John Mahama-led NDC bunch of mismanagers from power at the next opportunity, we shall be calling upon ourselves, a quadruple dose of untold hardships we are currently going through,” explaining that “Our failure to remove such a corrupt bunch of people from the helms of governance, will be tantamount to signing our ultimate death warrants.”
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