Former Deputy Minister for Communication under the Mahama administration, Felix Kwakye Ofosu says Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia sounded 'pedestrian' when he compared four interchanges under the NPP to one under the NDC.
Dr Bawumia says the NPP administration was able to build four interchanges for less money than the NDC that built only one for a higher cost.
This has generated a lot of conversations and Kwakye Ofosu speaking on Joy FM on August 19, 2020, says the scope of all these projects vary and Dr Bawumia peddled falsehood.
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"First of all the onus was on the Vice President to provide particulars why he is questioning the prices. They will never be able to put out the scope of work of the interchanges because it will expose them. We have everything with us. The Kwame Nkrumah Interchange is the biggest interchange in Ghana. This are two interchanges feud into one. We did a lot and that interchange is bigger than the Pokuase Interchange. They should provide the scope of all these projects and not do baseless arguments so that reasonable people will believe you. A Vice President is not allowed to peddled such falsehood and sound as pedestrian like Bawumia did yesterday. It has become habitual to go on platforms and say things that are not true"
President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe also waded into the debate and says comparing of projects must be situated in context since the location of construction influences cost.
Speaking at a ‘Town Hall’ meeting on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, Dr Bawumia said this clearly shows that the NPP government has been prudent with the little resource at its disposal, thereby, doing more infrastructure projects than the previous administration.
The Vice President cited Tema, Pokuase and Obetsebi Lamptey interchanges in the Greater Accra Region and Tamale in the Northern Region, all at a total cost of $289 million comparing it with the $260 million Kwame Nkrumah Interchange.
“I would just leave that for you to ponder,†Dr Bawumia said.
Prior to the 2016 elections, John Dramani Mahama commissioned a redesigned Kwame Nkrumah Circle interchange to ease the heavy vehicular traffic in the capital.
Dubbed ‘Dubai Interchange’, the three-tier interchange included a 1.2km flyover from the then Busy Internet end of the Ring Road to the Awudome Cemetery, near the Obetsebi-Lamptey Roundabout with street lights.
The phase one of the project cost €74 million whilst phase two was at US$170 million.
In 2019, however, President Akufo-Addo-led NPP government commissioned the redevelopment of the Obetsebi Lamptey Circle into an interchange at a reported $39 million for phase one and $100 million for phase two.
The $39 million of the project is a loan from a British bank, HSBC, which was secured under the previous administration and approved by Parliament in August 2016.
A one-kilometre interchange in Northern regional capital is the first-ever in the Northern Region. This is being constructed from the projects funded through the $2 billion Government of Ghana-Sinohydro Master Project Support Agreement but Government indicated that it will cost $35 million.
There is also the much talked about $65 million Pokuase Interchange project in the Ga West Municipality in the Greater Accra Region.
This Interchange project comprises a four-tier interchange. The Pokuase interchange is 5-kilometre, Awoshie-Pokuase Road is 2-kilometre, Accra-Nsawam Road is also two-kilometre and the Kwabenya road.
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