Vice Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has laughed off claims by President John Mahama that Ghana has undergone an unprecedented infrastructural development during his tenure saying "the impact of infrastructure development by the NDC has not reflected in the economic living of citizens".
President Mahama, earlier in June this year, during the 24th anniversary of the NDC , stated “…notwithstanding the challenges of a lower-middle income economy in an area of global economic volatility, we have still striven to ensure massive infrastructural developmentâ€and has repeatedly stated same during his campaign tours.
But according to Dr Bawumia, "contrary to Mahama's claims, the reality is that Ghana's investment on infrastructure relative to GDP is declining as "the total cost of infrastructure expenditure undertaken by this government from 2009 is less than 7 billion dollars out of the $39 billion dollars they have borrowed so far".
"According to the IMF's [Managing Director] Christine Lagarde most of Ghana's borrowing has been used for consumption and not infrastructure investment", he added.
Speaking at his lecture themed “The State of the Ghanaian Economy – A Foundation of Concrete or Straw", the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana stated that managing an economy was not just about infrastructure investment alone because all governments in the past have done infrastructural projects but the infrastructure investment must reflect positively on the economy and on the citizenry.
"If we are undertaking unprecedented infrastructure and econmic developement, then why is our economy in trouble?", he asked the charged audience at the National Theatre, adding that "A key difference between NPP and NDC however is that the impact of the NPP’s infrastructure investment along with structural reforms and prudent economic policies was felt positively in the economy"
He also pointed out that projects under President Mahama's government lacks value for money becuase of "overpricing of contracts through the use of sole sourcing".
Citing an example, Dr Bawumia stated "It is on record that Ethiopia is building its Shire Airport at a cost of $21 million" but "the rehabilitation of the Kumasi Airport runway alone cost this country $23.8 million"
Source: Primenewsghana.com