PPP aspiring MP blasts Mahama over failed promises

Progressive People´s Party (PPP) parliamentary candidate for Obuasi east constituency, Mr Frank Aboagye Danyansah, has lambasted President John Dramani Mahama’s administration for making too many promises but failing to honour them.

Describing the promises as over ambitious and unfulfilling, the aspiring Member of Parliament made copious references the ruling National Democratic Congress party made regarding housing, schools, social services and infrastructure upon assuming office but woefully failed to accomplish them, and by extension continue to deceive the masses.

He quoted president Mahama’s reaction to numerous complaints by the public as saying, "It is good politics to say things are hard but the money we are raising, we are using for things that would benefit this country, you cannot have jobs when you don't have social infrastructure, so we have spent these last four years to bring these social infrastructure back from scratch".

Mr. Seth Terkper, Finance Minister said in October, 2015 in a speech read on his behalf at the 3rd Public-Private Partnership Conference held by C-Nergy Global holdings in partnership with the Ministry of Finance in Takoradi, that "even though infrastructure contributes significantly to a country's social development strategies, Ghana needs to spend at least $1.5 billion annually to close its infrastructure deficit.

“He accepted the fact that it was premature to evaluate the country's performance thus far,” Mr Danyansah said.

A report on employment from infrastructure in MENA (World Bank (2012). MENA's infrastructure sectors, including construction and infrastructure services, employ close to one fifth of the regional workforce, or 18.2 million people with 7.5 million involved in infrastructure services. Within these services, the transport and communication sectors represent about 7% of total employment and energy and water 1% on average with significant variation across countries.

This study shows that in the short-run every one billion of US$ invested in infrastructure has the potential of generating, on average, around 110,000 infrastructure-related jobs in the oil importing countries, 49,000 jobs in the developing oil exporting countries, and 26,000 jobs in the GCC economies, respectively.

From my research, as a country under NDC government today, we have borrowed about GH?111 billion so far and we have had Grants, Aids and Dividends summing up to about GH?8.2 billion and invested about GH?19.7 billion in infrastructure.

Job Creation and Development Program stated in page 136, item 676 and 677 of the 2016 Budget statements and Economic policy of Ghana 2016.

“The Ministry continued with policy development to promote job creation and reduction of decent work deficits. A total of 47,000 youth were engaged under various modules of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA).

The Department of Cooperatives organized 600 economic groups across sectors into vibrant cooperative societies, audited 305 and trained 200 artisans in various employable skill categories. Mr. Speaker, in 2016, the Ministry will strengthen the Graduate Entrepreneurial Business Support Scheme (GEBSS) to create more job opportunities for young graduate entrepreneurs to establish and grow their businesses.”

On infrastructure in Education you stated on page 4 item 14 that “After the success of the „?Schools Under Trees Program??, you begun the construction of 123 Community Day Senior High Schools (SHS) to provide space for hundreds of thousands of JHS graduates. We have added to the stock, two new functioning universities and implemented many other social interventions in education;"

Only 4 Community day senior high Schools have been completed in 4 years. How many jobs have been created so far? 4 years in government does this NDC government know statistically the unemployment rate in Ghana? How do you solve unemployment without knowing the number of your citizenry who are unemployed?

The demand for commercial and residential real estate continues to grow across Africa. However there is huge problem of accommodation shortage. Ghana has a housing deficit of 1.7million units; we will need $34 billion to fix it, which is increasing by the day….its estimated to hit 2 million units by 2018 if it is not tackled soon.

On 6th November 2013, President promises to complete all Affordable houses; President Mahama said "Ghana would soon receive a one billion dollar loan facility from the Brazilian Government to undertake projects in energy, agriculture and development projects. He said through the Social Security and National Insurance Trust, would complete all the 4,900 affordable houses started by the Kufuor Administration. The houses when completed would be sold to public civil servants all over the country to reduce the housing deficit in the next three years"

In the 2016 budget, Human Settlement and Development Programme page 116 items 563 and 564 respectively, Mr. Terkper mention "Mr. Speaker, Phase II of the construction of 368 housing units for the security services is on-going. The current work rate on the project is about 38 percent and is expected to be completed in 2016. In addition, construction of 5,000 Affordable Housing Unit at Saglemi-Ningo Prampram is progressing. Works on Phase I of the project consisting of 1,502 housing units commenced and will be completed in 2016."

"The 4,720 government affordable housing units in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Northern, Upper West and Eastern regions are at various stages of completion. Seventy-two units which were allocated to the State Housing Company Limited (SHCL) at Borteyman were completed".

We are in 2016 and I ask where these houses are? Assuming government was to continue all these affordable houses abandoned, so many people will be employed across the country and not just an area, so far just 72 units of the 4,900 affordable housing has been completed in 4 years.

Ghana could therefore generate 100,000 direct jobs and infrastructure-related jobs just by meeting estimated, annual infrastructure investment needs-and this ignores the further growth impact from any investment in infrastructure that could result from an effort that goes beyond what is needed to meet the added infrastructure needs to support growth in a business-as- usual-scenario.

Youth employment is about building skills through improving the quality of education, as well as behavioral and business skills, it is about Agriculture-where strategies exist but have not been implemented, and could benefit from youth lens, it is about household non-farm enterprises-where few strategies exist, it is about creating more labor intensive enterprises as fast as possible to absorb the supply of new entrants with education who want wage jobs and finally about female empowerment and focus on the poor. It is politically an important potential tool for countries going through major adjustments. Similar conclusions could easily be drawn for other regions.

Clearly NDC government under the leadership of President Mahama has failed this country and doesn't deserve a second term. Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom is the best option for Ghana, as an astute entrepreneur he has Job creation at his finger tips and can manage the Ghana economy better.