Former President and NDC presidential candidate John Dramani Mahama has expressed surprise that the Abuakwa South constituency, the hometown of President Nana Akufo-Addo, did not receive the promised $1 million per constituency per year as pledged by the NPP government in 2016.
During the 2016 campaign, Akufo-Addo and then-vice-presidential candidate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia assured Ghanaians of this policy under the “Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication” program, intended to inject $1.6 billion for pro-poor initiatives across constituencies.
During an address to NDC supporters in Kyebi on Monday,Mahama said that almost eight years into the NPP’s governance, this promise remains unfulfilled, leaving many constituencies, including Akufo-Addo’s home constituency-Abuakwa South , with developmental deficits.
He pointed out that the accumulated $8 million for Abuakwa South could have been used to improve access to safe drinking water in various communities, repair poor roads, and enhance educational infrastructure.
“They [NPP] promised One million dollar every year.Even if you couldn’t fulfil this promise, for Abuakwa South they should have received theirs.Abuakwa South would have received total of 8 million dollars to carry out various developmental projects. I have been handed a tall list of needs including poor roads, lack of safe drinking water, and many others. With 8 million dollars all these would have been done but the NPP never fulfilled this promise. The one district one factory too not fulfilled”. Mahama said
He used this as a cautionary example, urging Ghanaians to learn from what he termed as the NPP’s broken promises and avoid being misled again with unrealistic campaign commitments.
On healthcare, Mahama reiterated his commitment to revamping the National Health Insurance Scheme by removing the cap placed on it by the NPP government to ensure greater effectiveness in meeting the health needs of citizens.
He assured the next NDC government will provide free primary healthcare services to Ghanaians.
The former president further accused the NPP of economic mismanagement, citing a rise in Ghana’s debt stock from 120 billion cedis to 767 billion cedis under their leadership.
He criticized Vice President Bawumia for his failure to stabilize the cedi, pointing to its depreciation from an exchange rate of $1 to GH₵4 in 2016 to $1 to GH₵17 presently.
Mahama urged residents of Kyebi and the entire Abuakwa South constituency to support the NDC to unseat the NPP in the upcoming 2024 elections, saying it was time to “chase the elephant into the Atewa Forest.”
