President John Mahama’s campaign tour of the Volta Region has been greeted with a litany of protests as he slammed the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) over what he called blatant accusations.
According to the president, the accusation that his government has saddled the country with huge debts through his unbridled borrowing could not be the truth because he did not borrow the money to eat khebab.
The eight years’ rule of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration has seen the national debt jumping from GH¢9.5 billion in 2009 to GH¢110 billion by June 2016, raising questions about the debt sustainability of the country, especially when debt to GDP is about 70 percent.
Over 40 percent of the country’s revenue is currently used for interest repayment, leaving little for development.
But President Mahama justified the high borrowing at Kpassa in the Nkwanta North District of the region saying that it was to fill the infrastructure gap.
Earlier, residents had threatened not to vote for the governing National Democratic Congress if their portion of the Eastern Corridor Road is not completed.
The residents mounted signage posts along the stretch between Nkwanta and Kpassa with the inscription, “No road, No vote.” The most outstanding one was at Boakye.
At a rally, some of the residents were heard chanting, “No road, No vote” intermittently as various speakers addressed them.
The chief of Kpassa, Ubor Konja Tanjan, reiterated the sentiments of his people and the entire district by expressing his displeasure regarding the delay in constructing the portion of the road from Nkwanta through Kpassa to Tinjase.
Ubor Konja Tanjan was unhappy that the two contractors had deserted the site and pleaded with the government to get the contractors to return to the road and finish it.
The chief, who also complained about challenges in the area, was speaking when the president met him on the second day of his campaign.
According to Ubor Konja Tanjan, residents had to travel long distances to access healthcare when they were referred by the clinics in respect of secondary cases.
Some residents who spoke to the media also noted that although the government was praising itself for eradicating schools under trees, the district has a good number of them. They also pleaded for basic schools to be built for them.
Others also complained that the National Health Insurance Scheme had become less effective since it did not cover most of the illnesses they send to the hospital.
Responding to the concerns, President Mahama directed the Minister of Roads and Highways to terminate the contract of the Chinese company working on the Nkwanta to Kpassa stretch of the Eastern Corridor road.
He also directed that the contractor on the Kpassa to Tinjase road be given a two-week deadline to return to site or have its contract terminated.
From Fred Duodu, Kpassa (freduoo@gmail.com)