Akufo-Addo owes no apology over Jambussi water project - Kofi Adda

Claims that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was dishonest in not crediting the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the Jambussi water project in the Upper Waste Region is out of place, Kofi Adda, Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, has said.

According to him, the project was started by the Kufuor administration in 2008, only for the NDC government to continue when the party won the 2008 elections, therefore the President owes no apology for crediting former President Kufuor.

His comments come on the heels of accusation by the main opposition NDC that President Akufo-Addo claimed credit for a project that was started by former President John Dramamani Mahama.

Mr Akufo-Addo, as part of his two-day visit to the Upper West Region, commissioned the $51.5 million Jambussi water project which was constructed with a facility from the Korean Exim Bank, to supply 3.3 million gallons of water per day to the 100,705 residents of Wa.

According to him, the project started “at the time of the great Ghanaian leader, John Agyekum Kufuor”.

He added: “it was in his (President Kufuor’s) time that the financing for this project was secured, as far back as 2008. But, unfortunately, after he left [office in 2008], it took five years under the NDC successor governments before the construction of the project began.”

But in a press release issued by the Upper West Regional NDC, the party said the project was started by the John Mahama government.

“The project was jointly funded by the Korean Exim Bank and the NDC government to be constructed over a period of 36 months. Kolon Pyunghwa Limited of South Korea was the company that undertook the construction.

“Prior to the Wa water project, the NDC government had secured a $5.8 million World Bank facility to improve the supply of water to Wa town and its environs which saw an increase of the ground water supply to about 700,000 gallons of water a day from the initial inadequate 300,000 gallons of water a day. All this were deliberate attempts made by the erstwhile NDC government to replace the old water supply system which has been in existence since 1952,” he said.

Reacting to these claims on Citi News, Mr Adda said: “They (NDC) came and continued it only for the NPP to come back to power for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to come and commission, and so if they continued from where we started fine, we will give them credit for not throwing away our ideas but it started in 2008 by us (NPP).”

He also told Accra-based Starr FM that: “Akufo-Addo owes nobody an apology for attributing the project to Kufuor.”