Dr. Bawumia cares about 'Kayayei' not Mahama - Tema MCE

The Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Yohane Amarh Ashitey, has accused John Dramani Mahama of being a traitor to head porters.

His attack comes after Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia commissioned a hostel to accommodate Kayayei.

In a statement posted on social media on Friday, the MCE stated that Dr. Bawumia has shown to have a more caring personality than John Mahama with the project.

"We all know that the people who suffer most from the dehumanizing head porter labor are our sisters from remote and deprived areas in the Northern Region. And yet, during the eight years that John Mahama was in the presidency, as both Vice President and President, he did nothing about it."

"But just in his capacity as Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has commissioned a hostel and rehabilitation center for these Kayayei. Obviously, Bawumia has had a more caring and loving personality towards Kayayei than John Mahama," Yohane Amarh Ashitey wrote.

Recently, Dr. Bawumia commissioned a multi-purpose hostel facility in Accra for head porters as well as an empowerment training program for them.

The commissioning of the ultra-modern residential facility, according to Dr. Bawumia, "is in fulfillment of a promise I made to the head porters, on behalf of the government, when I visited their hub in Agbogbloshie, Accra."

"With the government adding a training program to the residential facility, we have moved beyond the promise of addressing their pressing needs to also offering them transitional job pathways to enhance their socio-economic status."

The two facilities in Madina and Ashaiman, in addition to the facilities built in Kumasi and Techiman, are expected to rapidly impact the over 100,000 Kayayei in the country and offer them sustainable livelihoods.

According to Yohane Amarh Ashitey, "the visionary Vice President Bawumia coordinated the project by pooling support from the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), Youth Employment Agency (YEA), Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET), Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), Ghana Gas, Ghana Health Service, and BOST."

He added that help was also sought from the Father Campbell Foundation.

"When the NPP says we are breaking the eight with Dr. Bawumia, it is not about noise and empty policy statements like a 24-hour economy; we are talking about tangible, transformative things like the Ghana card becoming a passport and Kayayei getting training and rehabilitation center," Yohane Amarh Ashitey wrote.