Sack incompetent Hawa Koomson – CSO tells Akufo-Addo

Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA), a Civil Society Organisation headquartered in the Upper East has called for the dismissal of the Special Initiatives Development Minister Madam Mavis Hawa Koomson.

According to the Executive Secretary of the advocacy organisation Bismark Adongo Ayorogo, the minister has exhibited gross incompetence in her handling of the One Village One Dam initiative and her recent comments suggesting the dams did not meet the expectation of beneficiaries because of the allocated budget to the projects.

The Minister in a recent interview said the pond-like dams constructed by her outfit is exactly what the Akufo-Addo-led government promised the people of the north and not Akosombo-like dams.

“Look at the cost, GH¢250,000. If you are constructing a meaningful dam you don’t need anything less than 3 million dollars. So if I’m constructing a GH¢250,000 dam then what kind of dam are you expecting from me? That is the kind of dam we promised the people, we didn’t say we are constructing the 3 million or 6 million type of dam for them,” she said.

However, NORPRA believes the Minister’s utterances are unfortunate and an admission of her failure.

Speaking in an interview on Yem Radio in Bolgatanga monitored by MyNewsGh.com, Bismark Adongo questioned the rationale behind the budget which the minister now believes is the determinant of the kind of dams being constructed.

“First of all we need to ask the question, who presented a budget or who asked for the approval of the GH¢250,000 for the construction of the dams. Certainly the answer is the minister,” he stated.

While making references to a team of 30 members charged to conduct community needs assessment on the implementation of government’s Infrastructural for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP) and the disbursement of $1m per constituency, NORPRA found it strange that the conclusion of the team on its needs assessment informed the kind of budget made for the 1V1D projects by the ministry.

According him, though NORPRA welcomed and lauded the proposal to construct dams for villages in the north, the execution has resulted in short-changing the people of the north.

“We are raising critical points and issues, instead of you to appear as apologetic to the people of Ghana particularly those of us who are supposed to be beneficiaries from this part of the country, you tell us that GH¢250k cannot any meaningful dam. In other words you deliberately constructed meaningless dams. If that money is nothing to her, it is a lot of money to us in northern Ghana. She should listen to herself,” he added.

He further called on the President to dismiss the sector minister to show his commitment to achieving his purpose for the 1V1D initiative.