MCE takes on NPP

Municipal Chief Executive of Ga South Municipal Assembly (GASMA,) Mr. Jerry Akwei Thompson, has dismissed claims by the Weija Constituency branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the municipality has seen more social and infrastructure development projects under the former MCE for the area in the regime of President John Agyekum Kufuor.

The outspoken politician consequently challenged the NPP to mention all their so-called monumental achievements in the communities in Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra region they executed during their eight-year tenure.

“They (NPP) should point one project and programme they have completed or done in Ga South Municipality. Most of the projects are those the NDC started under the regime of former President Jerry John Rawlings and did not complete before the party lost political power in 2004 to President Kufuor; I challenge the erstwhile NPP government to publish the lists of community programmes and projects in Ga South municipality they claim they have done during the time they were in power and we will praise them for it.”

"...if it comes to community development nobody should do politics with it. Because if people come into politics to serve and at the end of the day that person is criticised and maligned...then it would come to a time that decent people would not like to go into politics to serve," Mr. Thompson made the foregoing remarks in an exclusive interview with Today in Accra yesterday.

According to Mr. Thompson, “I want to say on record that the Ga South Municipal Assembly was created by former President John Agyekum Kufuor in 2007.”

And since that year the municipal assembly has been operating under trees, he stated.

That situation, GASMA MCE indicated, did bode well for the smooth running of the municipality.

It was along this line that after “I assumed office in 2012 I took it upon myself with the help of some corporate organisations to build an office complex even though it was the duty of the central government to build an office for the Assembly."

In furtherance of this, Mr. Thompson highlighted major social and infrastructure projects and programmes undertaken by the Mahama-led NDC government under his (Mr. Jerry Akwei Thompson’s) watch since he assumed office in December 2012.

The Ga South MCE was reacting to recent comments by some top officials of the NPP in Ga South municipality that NPP has done more for the municipality in terms of social and infrastructure development compared to the NDC.

He stressed that the Ga South Municipality currently has 2,000 community social and infrastructure development projects and programmes including the completion of a 49m- foot-bridge at Weija.

Mr. Thompson described the claims by the NPP as “laughable” saying that the Ga South Municipality has seen much more social and infrastructure development under his-led administration than the previous MCE of the Assembly under the NPP regime.

He mentioned a long list of development projects which he said were completed under his watch.

These, he said, include provision of educational facilities, Information Communication and Technology (ICT), health, sanitation, water, energy and roads among others.