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Press Release
NPP
January 09, 2015
WE SHALL DEMAND
ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY FROM
GOVERNMENT – KWABENA AGYEPONG
The General Secretary of the New Patriotic
Party (NPP), Kwabena Agyepong has said that
his party will ensure that there will be
true transparency and accountability in the
financial management of the country.
“We shall hold their feet to the fire and
make sure Ghanaians are aware of how the
country’s resources are been used,” he
added.
Mr. Kwabena Agyepong made the remarks during
an interview with AdomTv to assess the
performance of the 6 years administration of
the NDC government.
Statutory payments
“Government has refused to make statutory
payments to the healthcare authorities.
Other statutory payments such as the
district assembly common funds, GETFUND etc
are all in arrears even though citizens
continue to pay their taxes”.
He noted with concern that the pro-poor
policies such as the National Health
Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the Free
Maternal Healthcare which began under the
erstwhile NPP administration is on the verge
of collapse.
He stressed that, “During the festive
season, about 27 women were held at the
maternity ward of the Korle Bu Teaching
hospital and La-Poly clinic for 3 weeks for
non-payment of bills. A private company had
to come to their rescue by paying their
bills to ensure their release. We expected
that the NHIS and Free Maternal Healthcare
which began under the NPP administration
would have been strengthened 6 years into
the NDC administration; however, the reverse
seems to be the case. Without money, people
cannot access free and quality medical care.
Corruption
He expressed his dissatisfaction with the
$29million which government claimed to have
used for the rehabilitation of the Kumasi
Airport. He added that, “It is not possible
for government to use $29million for the
resurfacing of the runway. As an Engineer, I
have done civil works at the airport and I
know what goes into it. The NPP is going to
write andrequest for the details of the
project. Ghanaians demand value for money
and not to be short-changed”.
Touching on the oil revenue, he said that
the government has refused to be transparent
with the actual revenues being generated
from the oil exploration and how much has
been accrued into the heritage fund. He
believes that the government is been
secretive as far as the oil management and
its finances are concerned.
Mr. Kwabena Agyepong disclosed that the
European Union (EU) has withheld its support
to Ghana as a result of the corruption and
dubious natureof the government pay-roll
system.
He was convinced that the government
officials have not shown clarity and
consistency in the finances of the country.
Failed Promises
He stated that the President Mahama
administration “has been a government of
failed promises” and “is only interested in
elections instead of the management of the
economy”. He stated further that the NDC
believes in public deceit and propaganda
just to win elections.
“In 2009, President John Mahama led a team
to South Korea to negotiate with STX Korea
to build 200,000 units of houses for the
security agencies and other public sector
workers, however, till date not a single
house can be shown for that. This
notwithstanding, the country had to pay for
insurance and commitment fee for the loan it
negotiated for the STX housing project”
According to him, the government lied about
the one-time health insurance premium
promise they made to Ghanaians and that no
country in the world has been able to
implement such an insurance policy.
Mr. Kwabena Agyepong urged the President to
sit-up and work for the betterment of
Ghanaians and also stop the wastage of
public funds within the system.
He was however confident that the NPP will
win the 2016 general elections and form the
next government.
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