'It's a pity Akufo-Addo left 95% of Upper West Regional hospital to rot for years' – Mahama

Former President John Dramani Mahama has accused the Akufo-Addo government of letting the Upper West Regional Hospital in Wa, which, according to him, was 95 per cent done during his administration, to go waste for a long time until it was eventually operationalised.

Speaking during a call on the Wa Na, as part of his campaign tour of the region, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said should he win the upcoming 7 December 2020 polls, his next government will provide the necessary seed money to enable the hospital run effectively.

“As the Wa Na stated; in office, we had completed many projects in Wa. The Upper West Regional Hospital is a good example”, Mr Mahama said.

“That hospital should have been completed long ago but at the time I left office, it was essentially 95 per cent complete”, he recalled.

According to him, “It is a pity that it took so many years for the present government to eventually operationalise the hospital, but even then, as we all know, the hospital is struggling because it does not have seed money to be able to provide the quality treatment that the people of the Upper West [region] deserve”.

“And, so, I want to assure my father, the Wa Na and the elders and the people of Wa and the Upper West Region that one of the first things we will do when we come into office is to provide the seed money for that hospital to be able to run efficiently”, Mr Mahama promised.

According to Mr Mahama, the “NDC has a particularly strong relationship with the Upper West Region because, as everybody knows, the history of the Upper West Region is related strongly to the NDC party”.

The Upper West Region, he noted, “was established by the founder of our party, Jerry John Rawlings, and since its founding, almost every development project that has taken place in the Upper West Region has taken place under an NDC administration”, Mr Mahama asserted.

“And, so”, the former President noted, “the Upper West Region can rest assured that anytime the NDC is in power, it will get access to its fair share of the national cake”.

“As the Wa Na said in his statement, we have been practising this democracy since 1992 and Ghanaians have become very discerning. They are not people that you can take for granted or take for a ride.

“And, so, his caution to politicians to be careful about indulging in false promises, is a very well-placed one”, Mr Mahama reiterated, adding: “Any political party that comes with the notion that it can promise heaven just to win political power will be very disappointed on the day of the elections because the results will reject those false promises”.

“NDC is a political party that takes truth and honesty seriously and we promise only what we can deliver.

“Unfortunately, many others have not done the same and, therefor, they have made our people lose faith in our democratic experiment”, Mr Mahama added.

NDC will restore honesty and truth to government and build the confidence of our people in our democracy.