President Akufo-Addo apologises to the people of Cape Coast
The president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has apologised to the people of Cape Coast in the Central Region for denying that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) promised to construct a harbour in the town in the lead up to the 2020 elections.
The president, in a radio interview in Accra today, October 21, admitted that his earlier comment regarding the construction of a harbour in the Central Region was a mistake.
“Let me just confess it, I made a mistake. It was a mistake and I have to apologise to the people of Cape Coast, and the Central Region for that mistake,” president Akufo-Addo said.
However, he was quick to add that, “presidents are humans, and they are not supermen; they make mistakes.”
He explained that he was aware of a landing site promise in the NPP manifesto and said, “in looking at the manifesto, I saw one page, which talked about landing site, I didn’t go further to see [the harbour].”
Still on the issue of the Cape Coast harbour, he remarked that, there needs to be some level of consideration on value for money, since there was the Elmina fishing harbour, saying, “I think still we have to rethink a lot of things.”
“We have a harbour in Elmina, which is being developed. Then we have another one projected for Cape Coast. I think some rethinking has to go on for us to be able to find what is the value for money arrangement [for the project],” he emphasised.
He was speaking in an interview monitored by The Ghana Report on Peace FM.
Earlier, the president had denied in a recent interview on Cape Coast-based Eagle FM that the NPP pledged to construct a harbour in the region during his tour there, stating that “the commitment was never to a harbour; it was to a landing site.”
“I never said I was going to build a harbour in Cape Coast. I said I was going to build a landing site like what I’ve done in these six other places in the Central Region. Cape Coast will also have its landing site, and the construction of that will start next year,” he emphasised.
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However, in 2020, Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia (then the running mate to Nana Akufo-Addo), who presented highlights of the 2020 manifesto of the NPP, had made the promise to the people.
He said, “we will accelerate our investments in roads, railways and ports. And for the people of Cape Coast, I have good news for you.
“We are building a new harbour in Cape Coast and a new airport in Cape Coast. It is very critical that we do that. An airport makes a lot of sense in Cape Coast. It’s a real tourism hub,” he added.
Additionally, on page 160 of the 2020 manifesto of the NPP on Roads, Railways, Ports and Harbours, it has been captured that over the next four years, the party would among other things, commence the construction of a “new harbour in Cape Coast, and a new airport in Cape Coast.”