The group calling itself ‘Fixing the Country Movement’ has stated that President Akufo-Addo has shown commitment towards the completion of the E-blocks schools former President John Dramani Mahama started.
The group has stated that records obtained from the Ministry of education indicates that the erstwhile Mahama government awarded a GHC 900 million contract to the construction companies to establish the E-block schools but failed to pay the contractors. It however took the Akufo-Addo administration to pay off the debt to ensure none of the schools are abandoned but completed for all school children to benefit from the government’s free SHS programme.
According to the group, President Akufo-Addo after clearing Mahama’s debt has now initiated steps to continue the E-block project.
This was contained in a statement by ‘Fixing the Country Movement’ at a press conference held on Sunday 31st October 2021 in Accra on the topic ‘Politics Of Abandoned Government Projects’.
The group stated that there has been a lot of talks lately about politics of abandoned government projects with the E-block issue dominating public discourse after the ultimatum issued to government by the paramount chief of the Aflao Traditional Area, Togbui Amenya Fiti V.
The group recalled that in 2012, the erstwhile Mahama Government announced its intention to build 200 Community Day Senior High Schools in the country to enhance access to Secondary Education.
“It is instructive to note that contracts were awarded for 124 out of the speculated number of 200,” the group stated in a statement read by Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah, Convener of ‘Fixing the Country Movement’.
The group stated that it was expected that 101 out of the 124 will be funded by the Government of Ghana (GoG) in two phases. Phase I of the project consists of fifty (50) schools and commenced in March 2014. Phase II was made up of fifty-one (51) and commenced in July 2015.
The group explained that the World Bank funded the construction of an additional twenty-three (23) districts under the Secondary Education Improvement Project (SEIP), which commenced in July 2015. This brought the total number of the E-Blocks to 124.
“To all intent and purposes, former President completed only 29 out of the 200 E-Blocks before Ghanaians voted for a change in 2016 resulting in the election of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“The point must be made clear that before the inception of the Akufo-Addo government, only 29 E-block schools had been completed and operational with the rest either at ground level or not constructed.
Statistics from the Ghana Education service indicates that as at the time the John Mahama-led government left office in January 7, 2017, only 29 out of 200 of its E block day schools project were completed,” the group said.
They explained that according the 2021 Budget statement, President Akufo-Addo has completed 31 of the E-blocks under the Secondary Education Improvement Programme and as part of increased efforts to provide infrastructure in the implementation of the Free Senior High School Programme.
“Indeed, as from 2017 to Date, 31 new schools have been constructed bringing the total number of completed projects to 60 as of September 2020. It is important to note that all the 60 completed schools have been operationalized and are currently in use,” they said.
They stated that per the Ghana Education service records, the remaining sixty-four (64) projects, have been categorized into three (3) groups. Category A includes twenty-one (21) structures at sixty percent (60%) and above completion.
Category B consists of sixteen (16) structures which are between 25%- 60% completion and Category C consists of twenty-seven (27) terminated contracts which include projects that did not start and those that were at substructure level.
“So between Akufo-Addo and John Mahama, who has invested heavily in education to increase access and improve quality?
“Clearly President Akufo-Addo has been committed to completing these projects against claims that he has abandoned them.
The group asked, “If the one who initiated the E-Block projects was able to complete a total of 29 schools within the 4 years that he was in Government whilst the one who inherited it has also completed 31 of the E-Blocks within the same 4 years and handed over for use, which of the two is committed in making sure all these projects are completed? Don’t forget Akufo-Addo has to pay off GHC 900 million contract debt to the construction companies.
“The claim that the E-block projects started by the Mahama administration have been abandoned by the Akufo-Addo-led government is a farcical claim and it ought to be dismissed with absolute contempt,” they said.
The group stated that President Akufo-Addo has chalked ‘significant strides’ in the Volta Region.
“In little over four years, the Nana Addo government has initiated over 17,000 infrastructure projects in the Volta region. As we speak the Akufo-Addo led administration has completed 8,746 of these infrastructure projects and 8,588 ongoing.
“These infrastructure projects are in various sectors of the economy, including agriculture, education, energy, health, housing, industrial, market, railway, road safety, and security.
“It is therefore misleading and very disingenuous for anyone to claim that the Akufo-Addo led government has abandoned the Volta Region in terms of development.
“Again, the Akufo-Addo government made a promise to develop the country, improve the economy and ensure prosperity to the Ghanaian people and he’s delivering on his promise.
“Volta Region remains the World Bank of the NDC and yet the 8years that the NDC was in power accounted for nothing with regards to development,” they said.
“How plausible is it for your stepmother to pull your ass out of the fire when your biological mother refuses to do so?
“At least the NPP is honest enough not to give the people of Volta region any promise they know they can’t fulfill.
“It might behove the unintelligent excuse of an opposition elements to check their facts before spewing their uneducated rhetoric.
“As for Mr Mahama, the least said about him the better. It is comical how John Mahama out of desperation for power is driving himself to the edge with attention seeking tantrums.
“Mr Mahama is clearly acting like the arsonist who always expects to take credit for having extinguished the fire that he set. He cannot starts a fire and then calls the fire department acting like a hero.
“Our advice to Mr Mahama is that he should focus on redeeming himself and to heed to the advice being proffered to him by his family to retire permanently from politics,” they stated.
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