Akufo-Addo did not lie about 10,875kms of new road constructed – Osei Nyarko
Chairman of the Roads and Transport Committee in Parliament, Kennedy Osei Nyarko, has dispelled claims that President Akufo-Addo failed to provide Ghanaians with the accurate number of new roads constructed under his administration.
President Akufo-Addo while delivering the 2022 State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Wednesday said his government has constructed some 10,875 kilometres of new road within the five years he has been in office.
Speaking to JoyNews‘ Kwesi Parker-Wilson on Thursday, Mr. Osei Nyarko said the figure disclosed by the President comprises data from COCOBOD and the Ministry of Roads and Highways.
According to him, the concerns from Ranking Member on the Transport Committee, Governs Kwame Agbodza, stem from his knowledge of only the data provided by the Ministry.
“The document brought in by the Minister gave a total figure of roads that have been constructed and completed by the Ministry of Roads and Highways, which is 4,263km. This excludes what COCOBOD has done.
So if we want to put together what COCOBOD has done on their own, between June to December, 2021, we were able to complete 6,400kms which is a combination of several programmes. Whether asphalt, overlays, partial reconstruction.
The Ministry only reported at the time what had been completed. They couldn’t have known what was not completed,” he said, adding that the Ministry does not report on uncompleted roads.
He stressed that President Akufo-Addo being aware of the total figure, therefore, did not give a breakdown of the roads constructed.
During the address, the President said his government has chalked the greatest achievement in the road sector.
This, he said, is an unprecedented achievement in the infrastructure sector in the history of Ghana.
But according to Governs Kwame Agbodza, the President cooked up the figures in his speech on roads.
He said data from the Roads and Highways Ministry during a press briefing in 2021, captured that there had been 68.5 kms of new road constructed and 1,463 kms of asphalt overlays.
“I concede that, that figure of 1,463 today, between the day the presser was done and today, would have been more. I can even give them 1,600 kms, even 2,000 kms which is actually over estimation… so how on earth does the President stand in front of Parliament, the people’s representatives, and conjure a figure of 10,000 kms, it has not happened,” he said on Joy FM‘s Top Story.
Source: Ghana News
