The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong, says whatever plans the government has to reconstruct the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) will come off contrary to claims by the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa which suggests otherwise.
Mr. Ablakwah recently claimed that the government’s plan to reconstruct the AICC was in jeopardy because Parliament had rejected the proposal.
This was when he made a Facebook post suggesting that opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament both at the Foreign Affairs Committee and plenary have effectively scuttled the government’s plan to reconstruct the AICC in the coming year (2023) at a cost of €116 million (GHS1.3 billion).
Interesting however, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Intergration under whose mandate the AICC falls insist the plan to demolish and reconstruct the national edifice is on course.
In interview with DGN Online, Mr. Ampratwum Sarpong who is also the MP for Asante Mampong said, “I am more than convinced that the publication by the Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee is completely false and misleading” insisting “the Minority side on the Committee of Foreign Affairs did not scuttle and could not have scuttled the government’s plan to reconstruct AICC.”
Also, he said “the plan was not also scuttled at the plenary as the North Tongu Member of Parliament would want Ghanaians to believe.”
Instead, he noted that “the plan and program to demolish and reconstruct the AICC or ‘Pink lady’ as it is popularly called is on course” and that “the Ministry is currently going through the legally required processes.”
“We have cleared PPA and are almost at the tail end on the Value for Money Audit / Review by the reputable PWC.
It is not for Okudzeto Ablakwa to tell government that the project is not important and therefore must be abundant or shelved.”
According to him, “once the project proposal has gone through the legally required processes, it will be brought to Parliament for approval. We haven’t gotten there yet, so it is very very premature for Mr. Ablakwa to be jumping the gun.
The project is therefore not scuttled but 100% on course.”
Rather, he stated “it is important to emphasise that Parliament has approved the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ budget estimates and allocation and also the outlook for 2023 which includes plans to demolish and rebuild the AICC after going through the legally required processes.”
Sometime in June 2020, Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs which was then chaired by Frank Annoh Dompreh, the MP for Nsawam/Adoagyiri with
Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong, as Vice Chairman, Okudzeto Ablakwa as a Ranking Member, Alfred Okoh Vanderpuje as Deputy Ranking Member and the rest of the Committee Members, visited and inspected the Accra International Conference Centre to familiarise themselves with the structural integrity challenges of the edifice.
After the inspection, the committee agreed with the advice and report of the Team of Engineers and Construction Professionals led by engineer Mark Addo of the Ghana Institute of Engineers that the best option was to demolish the edifice and rebuild it.
The Engineering report stated that 30% of the concrete had peeled off and that if there was a severe buckle, the building would collapse, and, therefore, it was imperative that the building would be pulled down and be rebuilt.
The Deputy Ranking Member, Okoe Vanderpuje who spoke at the time on behalf of the Committee agreed strongly with the engineer’s report and recommendations for the demolition and reconstruction of the building.
Copies of the report were made available to every Committee Member including Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Okoe Vanderpuje.
At their recent deliberations on the 2023 budget estimates for the Ministry, the Committee once again agreed with the report and professional advice from the same team of Engineers and Construction Professionals that the best option remains the demolition and rebuilding of the edifice.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong, therefore, said, “ It strange that today, the same Committee Members who took part in this exercise and agreed with the recommendations as contained in the report are creating the impression that they have never come into contact with this very report.”
He has thus urged Ghanaians and the public to ignore the claim of Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa as the facts as spelt out are not in sync with his position.
“AICC will be rebuilt per the arrangements with the investor, Suma Turizm Yatirimciligi A.S of Turkey since a delay in same may cause cataclysmic consequences to Ghanaians who patronise the edifice”, he insisted, saying “government, thanks Parliament and is going ahead with the demolition and reconstruction of the Accra International Conference Centre which was constructed in 1991.”
By Charles Takyi-Boadu