Govt must adhere to promises - NDC MP

THE National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Gomoa West, Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, has said that the government of the NPP has lost faith with the ordinary people.

This, according to her, is because it has failed so far to adhere to most of its campaign promises, especially with regard to the number of ministers and ministries.

The argument that the number of ministers does not matter but how efficient they are is what is important should not be entertained, since it is misleading, she contended.

In an interview in Accra, she wondered why the government had earlier on dissolved and merged some ministries but has quickly come back to re-create those same ministries and said the NDC has been vindicated because the ministries the NPP had described as unnecessary have been brought back.

She described the recent reshuffle of ministers by the government as a clear example of an administration that has lost focus and direction.

The MP, whose constituency is one of the largest in the country, wondered why when the issue of the number of presidential staffers comes up, the names of only a few people are mentioned when, in fact, the presidential staffers are many.

On the issue of the ?41 million donation to the President for work on his private residence, Mrs Benyiwa-Doe maintained that the call for a CHRAJ investigation into the matter by the minority in parliament is necessary.

“Fact is if we had not challenged them initially when they dipped their hands into the Consolidated Fund, we would not have had the full details covering that project,” she said.

“I am also of the conviction that that donation can influence the President, especially in his dealings with the donor or a member of his family, in the near future, while he is still a President of this country.”

As to whether it is necessary for MPs to be advanced with an amount of $20 million as car loans, she said she finds nothing wrong with it.

“It is rather unfortunate the way this issue has been blown up to look like a heinous practice. Some of us really need cars, especially those of us who were ministers in the previous administration and the new entrants,” she stated.

She expressed the hope that the executive would soon come out with modalities on how members of the House would be provided with decent transportation to facilitate their parliamentary duties.

Mrs Benyiwa-Doe hailed the announcement that a Disability Act is to be introduced but cautioned that issues of disability welfare should be given priority attention and not made to suffer from implementation problems.

On her plans for her area, the MP said she hopes to continue with the rural electrification project in her constituency, which has 96 towns.

She said when she took office in 1993, only four towns had been connected to the national grid, adding, “now 28 towns are connected, while eight others are in the offing and it is my prayer that the government would expedite action on them”.

She mentioned the eight towns yet to be connected as Gomoa Borofoyedur, Gomoa Tarkwa, Gomoa Mankessim, Gomoa Edna, Gomoa Assin and others.

Mrs Benyiwa-Doe expressed concern about the poor state of the road between Gomoa Nkwanta and Gomoa Ada and said though work on it started before the elections, it has stopped since February this year.

She also called on the government to speed up the rehabilitation of the Kwanyarko Dam and water treatment plant, to facilitate the provision of water to the area, especially to towns along the coast.

She said the poor nature of the road affects the transportation of foodstuffs to the surrounding towns and expressed the hope that work on it would resume soon.