My opponents are blind – Akufo-Addo

President Akufo-Addo says his political opponents are ‘blind’, for which reason they cannot see the good things he is doing to develop the country.

He said: “The things my opponents say sometimes make me wonder if they are blind or deaf. They always rain insults on me for doing nothing.

“They are always accusing me of wrongdoing but take the credit when something is right. They once said free SHS cannot happen in Ghana, but it is happening and they are benefiting from it.”

The President, who made the disclosure when he inspected the removal of timber from Volta Lake by Kete Karachi Timber Recovery Limited (KKTR) at Sedom in the Asuogyaman District of the Eastern Region under the One District, One Factory (1D1F) policy, said that at the end of his term, the good people of the country would realize that he didn’t lie to them.

He indicated that his political opponents discredited the 1D1F programme, which he promised to introduce during the 2016 campaign.

The President told the gathering that before the end of his first term of office all the promises made to the Ghanaian people in the run-up to the 2016 election would be fulfilled.

“The 1D1F is what we are all seeing over here. Before my tenure comes to an end in 2020, you will all realize the good things I did for this great nation. I didn’t come to tell lies. I will fulfill all my promises before my tenure ends with regard to the 1D1F, 1V1D and so forth,” he declared.

He commended the Kete Karachi Timber Recovery Limited for the role it’s playing to effectively develop the country, urging all Ghanaians to support his administration to build a better country.

President Akufo-Addo reiterated the commitment of government to supporting the company.

“I am going to make sure Ghanaian enterprise and industry take pride of place in the movement of our country. Akosombo Textiles, which was in jeopardy, has begun rising again and we will keep on reviving it” he assured them.

Responding to the call by Paramount Chief of Akwamufie Traditional Council, Odeneho Kwafo Akoto II, for government to construct roads at Sedom, the President said, “That is the main reason the Minister of Roads and Transport, Amoako Atta, is with me. I take him wherever I go so that he can have a fair idea about roads in the country. So I am sure he will work on it. We all saw the bad nature of the road.”

KKTR is a privately-owned Ghanaian business that has been contracted to salvage timber from the Volta Lake using modified Caterpillar excavators mounted on a barge.

Elkin Pianim, Chief Executive of the Dedeso Holdings, on his part, said the company has technology, including sonar and cutters, to successfully salvage timber from the Volta Lake without degrading the environment.

He said the company was also clearing and mapping navigation channels to enable the Volta Lake to become part of the country’s transportation system to link the northern and southern sectors of the country to ensure rapid socio-economic development.

The chief executive said the firm can produce 240,000 cubic tonnes of timber per year to meet Ghana’s requirement without cutting a single tree.