Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam handing over to the DRIP equipments the MMDAs in Tamale
The Minister for Finance, who doubles as the Member of Parliament for the Karaga Constituency, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, has debunked claims that the District Roads Improvement Programme (DRIP) is being funded with the MPs Common Fund.
His comment follows some statements by the opposition Members of Parliament who have claimed that the government has used their share of the common funds to procure the equipment.
Addressing participants at the distribution of the DRIP equipment in Tamale, the Finance Minister said “Let me also use this platform to dispel the falsehood that is moving around in some of our districts and constituencies about the source of this equipment. I have heard some parliamentary candidates say that their share of MPs common fund are put together and under the instructions of the MPs, the government used that money to procure this equipment. This cannot be true. This cannot be a fact.”
According to him, this year alone, the government allocated GHS5.7 billion to the district assembly common fund, and only 5% of the common fund goes to MPs as MP share, and if they take 5% out of GHS 5.7 billion, that amounts to about GHS 285 million.
“How can GHS 285 million procure equipment that costs billions of Ghana cedis? That is not possible. Apart from this, the MP share of the common fund is being released to the MPs and first and second quarters release was done.”
He urged the public to disregard the claim that the government used the MPs share of the common fund to procure the equipment.
Dr. Adam indicated that the government of President Akufo-Addo has invested significantly in transportation systems, adopting a comprehensive approach that encompasses roads, railways, and air transport adding that they have invested GHS 10 billion in the road sector alone from January 2024 to July 2024.
“We are preparing to end the year with another investment of GHS 7 billion again in the road sector. This is intended to expand our road network and to deliver on the numerous infrastructure projects across the country. Our strategic goal is to stimulate economic growth, create new jobs, and make strategic transportation investments,” he said.
The Northern Regional Minister, Alhassan Shani Shaibu, noted that the DRIP equipment will be distributed to all the 16 MMDAs in the Northern Region.
He disclosed that the heavy equipment includes a Water Tanker, Backhoe, Tipper Truck, Roller, Motor grader, Wheel loader, and Concrete Mixer with additional 6 Wheel loaders, 3 No. Bulldozers and 3 No. Lowbed, bringing the total number of equipments to the region to 131.
He appealed to traditional leaders and other important stakeholders at the local level to take ownership of the programme at the MMDAs level to ensure that the equipments are not abused to serve the parochial interests of some few people.
He warned the MMDAs taking delivery of the equipments on behalf of their people to adhere to the high standards of transparency, inclusivity and accountability that are key to the sustainability of the programme, for the benefit of the present and the future.