Come for debate if you have a better record – Mahama dares Akufo-Addo
Former President John Dramani Mahama has challenged President Nana Akufo-Addo to an open debate on achievements in the area of infrastructure.
“I am willing to present myself for a debate with President Nana Akufo-Addo any day, anytime and anywhere,” Mr Mahama told a gathering of NDC supporters in Ketu South, as part of his four-day tour of the Volta Region.
He said on Wednesday, August 20, that it was easy to determine who has achieved the most and that could be settled in a one-on-one debate with his political rival.
“After all, the president said this election is going to be an election of track records…Let’s have a debate between the two of us. Let Nana Akufo-Addo come and sit down, let me sit down and let’s debate our records,” he proposed.
Mr Mahama’s open challenge comes within two days after Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, presented a list of infrastructural projects by the current government.
Dr Bawumia said the NPP government has initiated over 17,000 projects and even completed some inherited programmes.
Mr Mahama touts his legacy between 2012 and 2016 as “unprecedented”, but Dr Bawumia discredited that as he presented pictures and information and unveiled a website for tracking each of the projects undertaken by his government.
Mr Mahama referred the populace to 2016 and said that his opponents on the other side said “we don’t eat infrastructure” when he embarked on an infrastructure development drive while in power.
He said the NPP, in a U-turn, is frantically clutching on every structure to add to their list of achievements.
“I see a scramble to grab even KVIPs and any infrastructure in town to tout as an achievement,” he stressed.
Mr Mahama also visited Ho, Tsito, Peki and other areas in the region. He interacted with the chiefs and people with promises such as job creation, technical and vocational training and the need to develop the areas.
The Peki Hospital was one of the concerns of the natives who appealed for renovation. Also, they want a technical school and completion of projects that have been abandoned.
The Directive Principles of State Policy in Article 35(7) of the 1992 Constitution requires that “as far as practicable, a government shall continue and execute projects and programmes commenced by the previous Governments.”
But successive governments in the Fourth Republic (apart from the Rawlings administration) have abandoned projects running into millions of cedis as they start new projects to benefits from the credits.
The Mills administration, for instance, failed to continue the Affordable Housing Project the Kufuor administration left behind.
Work on the Saglemi Housing Project also stalled under the Akufo-Addo administration over terms of the contract.