Commissioned by Citi TV/Citi FM in collaboration with the Ghana Chamber of Mines on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, the health centre’s establishment marks a significant milestone in the region’s healthcare infrastructure.

During the inauguration ceremony, Ablakwa emphasized the pivotal role the newly commissioned centre would play in enhancing primary healthcare delivery in the area.

He noted that previously, the entire Mepe traditional area relied solely on the Battor Catholic Hospital for medical services.

Speaking to Umaru Sanda Amadu of Citi FM/Citi TV, Ablakwa highlighted the centre’s importance in alleviating the strain placed on the Battor Catholic Hospital due to the influx of patients from Mepe and surrounding areas.

“It is very crucial because the entire Mepe traditional area does not have a hospital and so they depend on the Battor Catholic Hospital and there are six traditional areas in North Tongu.

“Everybody on this side of the river, for many decades, have been depending on the Battor Catholic Hospital and everybody has been rushing there and that has put pressure on that facility.

“With this construction, we will now have the pressure easing because for the first time, we are now going to have the people of Mepe having their own hospital and this is phenomenal and that is why we are all excited and primary healthcare here will be taken care of.

In addition to the Medical Centre, four housing units have also been constructed to accommodate medical personnel.

The management of Citi FM/Citi TV has so far unveiled three resettlement centres to aid those affected by the Akosombo Dam spillage.

Citi FM/Citi TV launched the Volta Relief Campaign on October 25, 2023, and later upgraded it to ‘OperationRebuild’ to mobilise relief efforts for the displaced victims.

Each resettlement structure, designed in a dormitory-style format, can comfortably house up to 300 individuals and is equipped with essential facilities, including washrooms. Each centre contains 8 dormitories.

These centres, completed through the generous contributions of listeners, viewers and corporate partners, stand as beacons of hope amid adversity for the flood victims of Akosombo.

Tokpo Resettlement Centre

The first centre, located in Tokpo within the Shai Osudoku Municipality, was officially inaugurated on January 17, 2024.

With a capacity to accommodate approximately 280 people, the centre aims to alleviate the strain on local resources by freeing up classrooms previously used as shelters, thus allowing students to resume their studies uninterrupted.

Ada Resettlement Centre

The Ada community in the Greater Accra Region’s Ada East District received the second resettlement centre under the ‘OperationRebuild’ initiative.

Commissioned by traditional leaders and a delegation led by Bernard Avle, General Manager of Citi FM and Citi TV, the centre offers shelter for displaced persons.

Kpando Torkor Resettlement Centre

The 250-capacity Kpando Torkor Resettlement Centre was inaugurated on February 3, 2024 at a cost of GH¢700,000, with significant contributions from Prudential Life Insurance.

The centres, conceived as temporary havens, will transition into fully equipped skills training facilities, providing invaluable opportunities for women and young people in the community.

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Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Abakwa said either the Government is confused or “only engaged in pedestrian propaganda to throw dust into the eyes of Ghanaians.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”BRyUFVQhMfsnhVeB6dLb48Blit4SmkWl”]He thus said the Minority side of Parliament “will not move an inch out of their constituencies and come engage in this futile exercise presented by a government engaged in pedestrian propaganda.”

This was in response to the government saying the ratification of these old agreements is to ensure that there is a legal framework, guiding the collaboration of the US and Ghanaian armies, as it works to implement the controversial 2018 defence cooperation which was approved by Parliament after a Minority boycott.

Following the Supreme Court ruling that ordered the agreement to host the detainees from Guantanamo Bay on the behest of the US to Parliament for ratification, the government said the 1998 and 2015 agreements are essentially unlawful.

Explaining why the Minority would not honour a recall of Parliament, he argued that the government was being dishonest because when it presented the agreement to Parliament, it said it had no choice but to go into the 2018 deal because its hands were tied by the 1998 and 2015 deals signed under NDC governments.

This was in the heat of the public outcry against the deal which some fear will see a military base established in the country and compromise Ghana’s security and sovereignty.

Mr. Ablakwa also noted that the 2018 agreement was clear that the 2015 deal the government is seeking to ratify has expired.

“These are the government’s own communications to Parliament. So is the Minister of Information telling us that when they were putting together this memorandum, they didn’t know what they were talking about or are they telling us that they lied to Parliament?”

Waste of money

Mr. Ablakwa also pointed out that in Article 19(3) of the 2018 agreement presented to Parliament, it noted that it shall supersede the previous agreements.

Thus, recalling Parliament just to ratify the 1998 and 2015 agreements would be a waste of taxpayers’ money, the MP said.

“Your own agreement that you agreed with the United States… says that this agreement supersedes all other agreements so why are we coming to waste the taxpayer’s money? Why are you seeking to reconvene Parliament for us to come and engage in a needless exercise,” he questioned.

“I will be extremely surprised that the Right Honorable Speaker, a man I respect so much… lends himself to this pedestrian propaganda, if he reconvenes the House when you have ratified an agreement which [supersedes] all previous agreements.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Mr. Ablakwa told Citi News that he had accepted what he believed to be contrite words from Mr. Amidu during his vetting on Tuesday.

He however maintained that Mr. Amidu “used very unprintable language on my person” and he should have at least retracted.

In a 2017 article, Mr. Amidu accused and chastised Ablakwa for insulting him in a write-up, but the North Tongu MP denied having authored the said write-up, noting that the article in question was authored by one Ohenenana Obonti Krow.

Mr. Amidu rebuffed that explanation insisting that Mr. Ablakwa used the name Ohenenana Obonti Krow as a pseudonym.

But Ablakwa says that episode was now in the past after Mr. Amidu’s re conciliatory disposition.

“Later on at the end of his appearance [before the Appointments Committee], he [Amidu] did say that he had no personal animosity and because of the gap, if we had sat to communicate, perhaps things would not have come this far. I have taken that as an extension of an olive branch and certain admission that he got it wrong.”

The rift between Mr. Ablakwa and Mr. Amidu was brought up by Minority members of Parliament’s Appointments Committee during the vetting, with an attempt to establish some wrongdoing on the part of the Special Prosecutor nominee.

But Mr. Amidu’s initial refusal to apologize prompted Mr. Ablakwa to suggest he would take legal action.

“During the hearing, I had said I would consider my options, but based on the submission he made at the tail end of his appearance before us, I decided to drop that and to just accept the olive branch he extended,” Mr. Ablakwa explained.

What Amidu said

At the tail ending of the vetting, Mr. Amidu admitted that dialogue between the two could have prevented any escalation.

“I believe that if we had sat down to speak, this matter would not even come here let alone as for it to be as if I am trying to pass aspersions on his integrity and all that. So I just want to assure him that I don’t have anything personal against him.”

Unsubstantiated allegations

Mr. Ablakwa further described Mr. Amidu’s inability to back allegations of corruption he made against the Mahama government at the vetting as disappointing.

“I like the passion that the nominee showed. He showed a rare passion to fight corruption no matter where he finds it… I liked that tone, I liked that whole approach. However, I was disappointed when a lot of the things he had written in times past, when he was subjected to strict proof, when those things were read to him and he was asked to stand by them to provide the proof, he said he wrote them largely on perception and intelligence.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him, prospective staff were turning down offers to work at the facility, citing the lack of staff accommodation as one of the reasons.

[contextly_sidebar id=”0eUFpDHD8XKn0xnJE3ixkf6GQCHEwknH”]Speaking on Eyewitness News on Monday as the facility deteriorates, Mr. Ablakwa, in whose constituency the over Ghc800,000 facility is located, said it had been difficult attracting dedicated medical staff to man the facility.

He said the situation was mainly due to the unavailability of decent accommodation for the prospective health personnel who will be serving the facility.

“According to the Health Service Directorate in the Volta Region, even if we had one doctor for a start and a couple of nurses it will help. But the challenge has been that, they have found it very difficult attracting any interested staff, and because of the accommodation challenges… it does not make it attractive,” he said.

 ‘GHS500,000 needed for accommodation’

Mr. Ablakwa said about Ghc500,000 is required to construct a decent accommodation facility for the prospective health professionals who may accept to work at the facility.

“The last estimate we did, if we had about Ghc400,000 to Ghc500,000, we can provide a decent accommodation for staff to be recruited and we have reached out to a number of organizations who we are hoping will be able to support us to put up medical accommodation for the staff,” he said.

While admitting that sourcing for funds and the construction of accommodation may take a while, the MP said he had committed to ensuring that he personally funds occasional medical outreaches by the center by volunteers.

He said, “what we have decided to do as the best way forward is to carry out medical outreaches, so that at least we can use the facilities on a weekend program; Saturdays and Sundays, where volunteer doctors will take time off and I have committed to funding the outreach program.”

According to a report by the Daily Guide Newspaper, health workers and residents were also not in support of the location of the facility, which they say is isolated from many community members.

About the Volo digital village

The $860,000 digital village project comprises a solar-powered library and a health facility. It was funded by Samsung, UNESCO and the government of Ghana.

Located at Volo, a fishing community in the North Tongu district of the Volta Region, its construction was aimed at providing the essential educational and health needs of about 5,000 people in that community and surrounding communities.

Construction work began in 2014, and work was completed and handed over to the government in May 2015.

Citi FM has put the spotlight on several health facilities that have either been fully or partially completed, but are not fully functional.

A typical examples is the $217 million University of Ghana Medical Centre, the first phase of which has been completed, but the facility is not in use due a tussle between the school and the Health Ministry over who should manage it.

Spotlight on abandoned projects 

Citi FM has put the spotlight on several health facilities that have either been fully or partially completed, but are not fully functional.

A typical examples is the $217 million University of Ghana Medical Centre, the first phase of which has been completed, but the facility is not in use due a tussle between the school and the Health Ministry over who should manage it.

Completed Bank of Ghana hospital left unused

In a related development a 60-bed capacity ultra-modern Bank of Ghana Hospital which was completed in 2017, is yet to be put to use although all major equipment and hospital material have been duly installed.

The facility, located at Cantonments in Accra, was part of a GH¢445.8 million capital expenditure commitments of the bank to major projects including the construction of a data center and its guest house.

Citi News gathered that the construction, which started in 2014 by the Universal Hospitals Group, was completed in three years.

Board yet to take decision on hospital

Meanwhile, the Bank of Ghana has disclosed that the Board of the Bank is yet to take a decision on a mode that will be used to run its hospital, which according to the central bank is near completion.

According to the Bank, it wants to attack private investors to manage the facility when completed.

Responding to a question on the Bank of Ghana hospital, the Governor, Dr. Ernest Addison stated that the Board will take a decision on the most effective management model for the facility.

“This has been a project that the bank has undertaken and nearing completion. The new board will decide for the model of this hospital because we want to attract private sector management of that hospital,” he added.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Minority had alleged that the Trade Ministry collected amounts ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 from the expatriates to enable them sit close to the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during the awards ceremony.

The Trade Ministry, which earlier rejected the claims that monies were collected, subsequently revealed that an amount of GHC2.6 million was realized after the awards.

But according to Ablakwa, the inconsistent responses from the Ministry of Trade and organizers of the awards, the Millennium Excellence Foundation (MEF), warrants an independent audit of the accounts.

Mr. Ablakwa, who is also the Member of Parliament for the North Tongu constituency in the Volta Region, made the suggestion when he appeared before the five-member Parliamentary committee tasked to investigate the alleged extortion of the expatriates.

Mr. Ablakwa said although he is not insinuating that there is something wrong, he believes that an independent audit would have aided the committee in its investigations.

“An independent audit would have helped. I haven’t said that there is something illegal about this approach. I only say that it does not boost public confidence,” he added.

Background

The Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, first made the extortion allegation in Parliament in December 2017.

Mr. Mubarak said the fees charged at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards (GEBA) were not approved by Parliament, adding that the monies were also not accounted for in the Internally Generated Funds [IGF] of the Ministry’s accounts.

The issue was further reinforced by Mr. Ablakwa, who suffered verbal assaults from Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah over the matter.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry initially dissociated itself from these allegations.

The Trade Ministry, in a statement said it played no role in determining prices for seats at the event, and clarified that it only facilitated the implementation of a new initiative by the Millennium Excellence Foundation.

But the Ministry after an order from the President to probe the matter clarified that an amount of GHc 2,667,215 was realized from the event.

The organizers of the Awards had also explained that no one paid to sit close to the President, and that the amount was raised from sponsorship through a fundraising at the event.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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The two MPs got into a heated argument in Parliament over the controversial Ghana Expatriate Business Awards, following claims by the Minority that government charged $100,000 from expatriates to make them sit close to the President.

[contextly_sidebar id=”lGvLCm4HhSD2EzWqw0wNFeefOFulgVo8″]Even though Mr. Ahenkorah, who called the Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs a “thief and a liar” subsequently apologized on Accra-based Peace FM, Mr. Ablakwa says he does not regard the apology.

He told Citi News’ Sixtus Dong Ullo that he will be heading to Court to clear his name.

“I want to place on record that I have not received any apology from Mr. Carlos Ahenkorah. I have no apology. That audio making the rounds, I do not consider that an apology and my lawyers have already advised that I take up the matter and bring a defamation suit against him which we are proceeding in earnest. We have him a perfect and golden opportunity to come to the court and prove that indeed I am a thief. I have already issued an instruction to my lawyers and the processes are underway.”

Mr. Ahenkorah clashed with Mr. Ablakwa in Parliament, after he felt the MP was besmirching the Akufo-Addo government with corruption allegations during an interview he was having with journalists.

Mr. Ablakwa had previously called on the Trade Ministry to apologize to President Nana Akufo-Addo and repay the monies to the expatriates, saying the incident had tainted the presidency.

Speaking on Accra-based Peace FM, Mr. Ahenkorah maintained that he did not take the accusations against the President lightly, but he still admitted that his reactions were not justified.

“Ghanaians should forgive me and forgive my failings. When the matter came up and I had issues with it [the Minority’s approach], I should have taken my time and watched my temper.”

Mr. Ablakwa says the Deputy Minister was so furious that his actions bordered on assault.

The deputy Minister initially showed no remorse when he was interviewed on Eyewitness News, claiming that Mr. Ablakwa was out of order when he suggested that he and the NPP government were corrupt.

He however apologized directly to Mr. Ablakwa, and indicated his willingness move past the matter.

“My brother, Okudzeto Ablakwa, although younger than me, is still my senior in Parliament. That exchange we had in Parliament should not have happened because we are two gentlemen… None of us acquitted ourselves well, but if he won’t apologize I will so that there will peace and we can move past this.”

No wrongdoing by Trade Ministry in expatriates saga – Nana Addo

Meanwhile, President Nana Akufo-Addo has found the allegations baseless, saying there was no wrongdoing.

Following a query to the Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyeremanten, demanding answers from him over the allegations, a statement from the government has said “the facts, as reported to the President, do not disclose any wrongdoing on the part of the Minister of any government official.”

In view of this, the President has “therefore asked the Minister to put those facts before the Ghanaian people.”

GHc2.6m was raised for Expatriate Business Awards – Alan

In presenting the facts as directed by the President, the Trade Minister, Alan Kyeremanten revealed among other things that, GHc 2,667,215 was raised for the awards ceremony.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ablakwa rejects Ahenkorah’s apology, threatens suit appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He contended that the Millennium Excellence Foundation was only dancing around the truth in its recent denial of the allegations.

[contextly_sidebar id=”saHjnXlSobxhO4okmGl2pw2F3qizLCx6″]The President of the Foundation, Ashim Morton, refuted the allegations that the Ministry of Trade and Industry charged expatriates between $25,000 and $100,000 to enable them to sit close to the President at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards on December 8.

But speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Ablakwa said Mr. Morton was only trying to be clever with his response.

“He [Mr. Morton] says that of the funds collected, nobody paid before the event. He is choosing his words, playing smart with us by saying that nobody paid before the event because he knows we have receipts that we will be putting out of people who paid and the dates the receipts were issued. He is trying to play clever saying that nobody paid before the event, so how about after?”

Mr. Ablakwa remains confident in these allegations, which were first trumpeted by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, and he noted that “every single claim we [the Minority] have made has been checked out so far.”

According to the MP, the only reason the Minority has not released the evidence is in the interest of the supposed victims of extortion.

“We do not think that, strategically and to be fair to the expatriate community that has worked with us and companies that have been really ticked off by this extortionist scam, we don’t think it will be fair to list their companies and to mention their names.”

But the Minority is ready to appear before “any investigative body that wants to take this matter up seriously and over there, we will send the receipts and all the other information that we have,” Mr. Ablakwa said.

The back and forth over the allegations took a heated turn when the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah, clashed with Mr. Ablakwa in Parliament.

This was followed by President Akufo-Addo writing to the Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyeremanten, demanding answers from him over the allegations.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has since dissociated itself from the claims by the Minority.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post We can prove Trade Ministry extortion claims – Minority appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The MP, who had been called on Eyewitness News on Tuesday after a near-fight encounter with the Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs in Parliament, showed no remorse for his conduct, claiming that Okudzeto threw the first punch by tagging his government corrupt, following reports that some expatriates were made to pay between $25,000 and $100,000 to sit close to the President at an awards event.

The allegation was first made by Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Mubarak, who said it was inappropriate.

The Ministry later issued a statement explaining that, it was only a facilitator of the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards event, and that the Millennium Excellence Foundation, an entity noted for organizing world class events, took the payments.

This was however disputed by the Minority in Parliament, who in a statement issued through Okudzeto Ablakwa, insisted that the Ministry’s own letter dated October 23, 2017, confirmed that it went beyond facilitation, to actually collect monies from the expatriates.

It said that letter also directed that interested expatriates were to direct their cheques to the accounts office of the Trade Ministry, although such monies were not accounted for by the Ministry

Mr. Ablakwa, who was addressing journalists at Parliament on the matter on Tuesday, was interrupted by the Deputy Trades Minister, who angrily rained insults on him, calling him a “liar” and a “thief” among others.

On Eyewitness News, Umaru Sanda first asked the Deputy Minister, if he did not find his choice of words and conduct dishonourable. He repeated his words, and said he stood by them.

He replied by saying“…Calling me corrupt and describing my person and my activity as corrupt. On the floor of parliament, it’s a different ball game. I will not allow anybody to denigrate myself or my ministry or my minister and just go scot-free. If you say that, I have to pay it back to you, especially when these people were in government, they just looking down upon everybody and calling our president names, this time we will not allow” he noted.

“A person like Okudzeto Ablakwa can never ever tag me as corrupt when he himself cannot account for some of his practices when he was in government. And I take serious exception to anybody trying to tag me in that manner. What was so unprintable of the language that I used? I did not say anything that was not true. He is a thief. He took money to go and do Campus Connect” he alleged.

When he was reminded that he could not call someone a thief publicly without evidence, he responded by saying “So calling somebody corrupt without having the basis to call him that is appropriate?”

When he was reminded that two wrongs don’t make a right and that he was not supposed to respond in that manner, the Deputy Minister said “I am not paying sin with sin, but it is high time we let these people understand that we are in power. They are not in power. When they were in power, they were doing anything that they wanted. Now at least we have to let them understand that no more, we will not take that thing from them anymore. Just understand me that anything that I said, I chose my words very carefully, and I think that I can stand by it.”

Asked whether it is his personal position or the position of the Majority side in Parliament to descend into the gutter with minority MPs, he said “I don’t think that’s what we want to do; we rather want to expose them where they are. We rather want to expose them in the gutter where they belong” he stated.

I didn’t insult him – Ablakwa insists

Also speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa said he never used any unprintable language on the MP to warrant the rather harsh reactions that came from him.

“We have put out a statement, and I haven’t said anything different from our statement we issued. I have been saying that, you cannot use the office of the President for profiteering; it is unethical and immoral. I have said as the position of the Minority that the fees and charges Act, has been breached. We have said that the sums that have been extorted should be refunded to the expatriates, and we have said that an apology is owed the people of Ghana, and if the President didn’t know about this scam, he deserves an apology because his name was used, where you pay 100,000 dollars to sit at his table. This is what I said today; and the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, a public official decides to descend on me”.

Carlos wanted to beat me – Ablakwa

According to him “He [Deputy Minister], was so furious and wanted to beat me. He was screaming and using very unprintable language. I mean for an honourable MP and a deputy Minister of state, this is how you think that you can present your side of the story if you think that the facts we are presenting are not right, is that how to go about it? To use insults to denigrate me when we have been engaged in a civil discourse on this matter? He’s seeking to claim provocation that he decided to descend into the gutter with me. Every Ghanaian has heard me, and I have been speaking on this matter, I was in no gutter. If he wants to create his gutter and swim in that gutter, he should do it” he opined.

Mr. Ablakwa expressed shock at the Deputy Minister’s reminder to him that, they [NPP] are in power, admonishing him to know that power is transient, and that he cannot abuse his office, when he is rather supposed to serve the citizenry.

“These are matters that we will leave it to the people of this country to judge. If you listened to him carefully, his mind-set is that, he must show us that they are now in power and we are in opposition. So it is just show of force and abuse of power. He should just remember that power is very transient; you will not be in power forever, so if you think that you are in power so you must denigrate, intimidate, insult and pour venom on your colleague who’s just doing his work as a Member of Parliament. Facts have come to our attention and we are putting it out”.

He reminded that the NPP of their days in opposition, and how critical they were of the then NDC government, saying “You did your work when you were in opposition. Remember when they had concerns about the Ford car scandal, what didn’t they say about Mahama? What didn’t they do? They summoned Parliament from recess, called Mahama incompetent, corrupt, declared the CHRAJ investigation bogus and all of that. Who insulted them? Who set out to beat them? Speak to the journalists in Parliament, he wanted to get physical, he wanted to beat me up. Does it have to come to that? He tried to beat me up, and I just had to walk away from him because of the respect I have for my constituents” he lamented.

God is my Judge – Ablakwa

Asked whether he may take up the matter further to seek redress, Ablakwa said “I am still thinking about it. I am normally someone who leaves matters into the hands of the Almighty. In my upbringing, I don’t believe that you should seek vengeance or try to pay people back or get people to account now. There are always ways by which the Almighty deals with these matters. So don’t be surprised if I don’t make much of it, and I will not also be intimidated” he noted.

I won’t apologize to Ablakwa – Carlos

Asked whether he would apologize to Okudzeto Ablakwa for his comments, Mr. Ahenkorah, who was still fuming after listening to Ablakwa on the other side of the telephone line on the show, insisted that “Ablakwa is a liar. I didn’t touch him. Of course, it’s the case that when I am arguing under pressure I have to shout. That doesn’t mean I am angry. Is he going to apologize to me? He is supposed to apologize to me for calling me corrupt. I was standing there when Okudzeto was raining insults calling us corrupt. If he apologizes to me, I will apologize to him. As I was saying, the Millennium Excellence Foundation has called him [Ablakwa], to tell him that they organized the programme, did the collection, raised the fund and everything, and yet he’s still going around peddling lies.”
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Two secondary schools in the North Tongu district; Mepe St Kizito and Battor Senior High Schools, on Wednesday took delivery of a total of 200 set of mono desks, seven white marker boards, 10 boxes of markers and 10 teacher desks with their accompanying chairs.

The gesture, according to Mr. Ablakwa, is to ease pressure on the limited resources of the schools as a result of the increased enrollments from the Free Senior High School Program.

“We all know that the new government is implementing the Free Senior High School program, and because of the program, enrollment numbers have increased. That has placed pressure on facilities which already as we know is inadequate. I decided to also support so that we can ease the pressure and make things comfortable for you,” he said.

The Free Senior High Program is one of the flagship programs of the current government which sought to provide quality education for students at the public secondary schools free of charge.

It started with first year students this September, benefiting thousands of children.

Mr. Okudzeto, who said the program was in tandem with the Secondary Education Improvement Project by his government then, assured students that the various interventions which were started by the erstwhile administration at the time would be continued under the new government to ensure they enjoy quality and affordable education.

The Head Master of Battor Senior High School, Mr. Lawrence Korley, expressed gratitude for the gesture and asked for more support from stakeholders to the school in area of classroom infrastructure and accommodation for students and teachers.

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By: King Nobert Akpablie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him, the government’s move is without recourse to Parliament, although the house originally approved the construction of two campuses for the school at Donkorkrom and Somanya.

[contextly_sidebar id=”MKLx8pKbrSMWTEqR7DKBpsDrvFbS2Q7F”]The construction of the University was part of the Mahama administration’s vision to ensure each region in the country had a public university.

The Education Minister told Parliament that the construction of the proposed Somanya Campus of the University would begin next month, but did not give details about the construction of the second campus.

But according to the North Tongu MP, the government had changed the original plan of a Donkorkrom campus to Kyebi, the hometown of President Akufo-Addo.

Speaking in an interview with Citi News, the former deputy Education Minister said, “the program which Parliament had already approved was that there will be two main campuses, the Somanya campus and the Donkorkrom campus in the Affram Plains area. The information I have, which is unimpeachable, credible, is that, this government has changed the second campus from Donkorkrom in Afram Plains to Bunso in Kyebi, and that is why they did not want to answer the question. The facility that this house approved in 2016 has to do with funding for two campuses, there is reasonable proximity.”

He said although he tried the seek clarification from the Education Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh on the matter, the former did not give details about the development, noting that “they know what they have done, which they are hiding from the people of this country,” hence the failure to disclose the move.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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