The Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has accused the Mahama-led administration of slowing down the implementation of the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project, while unfairly blaming the previous government for delays in flood control works.
His comments come in response to claims by Sagnarigu MP Atta Issah that the current administration has spent more on flood control under GARID in two years than the New Patriotic Party (NPP) did in five years.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah dismissed those figures, describing them as misleading and not reflective of the actual situation on the ground.
According to him, the project remains fully funded, but implementation has stalled due to what he described as expenditure control measures introduced by the Ministry of Finance.
“Those days when the NDC could just tell lies and throw figures and allegations out there and confuse people are over,” he said. “They have been in power for one and a half years, and they have introduced measures that have stalled the project.”
The former Information Minister also argued that the NPP has avoided politicising recent flooding incidents, noting that party leaders have focused instead on supporting affected communities.
He referenced comments by the NPP’s 2024 presidential candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who reportedly called for unity and assistance for victims rather than political blame.
“We don’t intend to do politics with this,” he said. “When Dr Bawumia got on the ground, the first thing he said was no politics. Let’s focus on helping people.”
However, Mr Oppong Nkrumah warned that the opposition would respond if it continued to be blamed for the situation.
“If you go into partisan politics, we will show you that the evidence is clear that you have stopped the project from going on,” he added.
He also rejected allegations that funds allocated under the previous administration had been misused, arguing that the current government has had enough time to investigate such claims if it believed they were true.
According to him, the central issue is not funding availability but delays in disbursement to contractors working on flood mitigation projects.
“The money that is available, you are supposed to apply it to contractors who are working. You are not doing that because you want to constrain expenditure,” he said.
Oppong Nkrumah urged government to prioritise urgent flood control measures, including desilting drains, paying contractors, and supporting victims of recent flooding with relief items such as food, clean water, and mosquito nets.
He also called for an end to what he described as political blame games, stressing that attention should remain on preventing further destruction and disease outbreaks in affected communities.
