He said the government is looking for funds to complete the affordable housing projects started under former Presidents John Agyekum Kufuor and John Dramani Mahama.

“We are also going round to find monies out of budgetary source to finance these projects so that our people can go and live in, that is a must,” he said.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Z1H2AlRQSLojRPyZ0VO20jvU0CyElYBC”]He said the government has assessed the projects to determine how much it will cost to complete the buildings, adding that such projects will not be allowed to go waste.

“We have done what is called quantity surveying, we have come out with bills of quantities as to how much it will cost to complete them”

The Affordable Housing Programme was launched back in September 2005 by former President Kufuor, and was aimed at providing housing to low and middle-income workers of the country. It is supposed to provide accommodation for at least 12,000 families.

But work on the project has not been consistent, with successive governments failing on the various timelines.

The Project Engineer for the Affordable Housing project in Koforidua, Bio Sackey, has said that an estimated GhC117 million will be needed to complete the whole project. 

Housing project under Mahama

The NDC under the leadership of John Mahama initiated a 1,500 housing unit project at Ningo to provide affordable housing for Ghanaians in a bid to reduce the country’s housing deficit of about 1.7 million.

The Ningo project was among the few John Mahama initiated to address the problem.

Former President Kufuor initiated the Kpone affordable housing project as well as others in Borteman also in the Greater Accra Region and Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, at a cost of over $300 million funded by the Government of Ghana.

The project consultant then, Ernest Biney, promised that the project will be completed in 2007.

But the current state of the structures will demand extensive works to make them usable.

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By: Farida Abernie Ola Yusif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post We’ll complete ‘abandoned’ housing projects -Atta Kyea appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Bawku Central MP had argued that, Nana Addo breached the constitution by making that appointment because the “nomination of any person to be vetted for the post of a ‘Senior Minister’ constitutes a constitutional aberration”, adding that “nowhere in the Constitution does the office of ‘Senior Minister’ exist.”

But the Abuakwa South lawmaker in a sharp rebuttal described Ayariga’s argument as unfortunate and hollow, arguing that the constitution has not spelt out guidelines for the appointment of Ministers under a particular government.

“It is very unfortunate because it has no substance and it is hollow. There is nowhere in the constitution that any ministerial portfolio has been created… So far as they have ministerial roles and functions, the only Minister who has been given constitutional recognition is the office of the Attorney General so with due respect to him, I do not see how he will have any serious argument to press home either in the court or within Parliament because it is pathetic…I am afraid his argument is jejune. They don’t see the light of state. And when you say a senior minister is it not a Minister of state? Is it a Minister from heaven? It doesn’t make sense.”

Atta Kyea indicated that, Mahama Ayariga’s argument also “falls flat” because he sought to equate the work of a Senior Minister to that of a Prime Minister, although they perform different roles and have nothing in common.

“A senior Minister is a Minister of State, is that not so? Whether you describe it senior, super senior or upper senior, he is still a Minister of state. If you have a poor sense of who a prime minister is; and you want to equate a Senior Minister to a prime minister, then your argument falls flat because when you have a prime minister you do not have a President.”

President Akufo- Addo nominated the former Finance Minister under the erstwhile Kufuor administration as Senior Minister last week, pending parliamentary approval.

The Senior Minister concept was first introduced during the erstwhile NPP administration under John Kufuor.

If approved by Parliament, Osafo Maafo’s position will require him to supervise the activities of all other appointees and ensure discipline at all levels.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ayariga’s ‘senior minister’ argument senseless – Atta Kyea appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

MP for Essikado-Ketan Constituency in the Western Region, Joe Ghartey, has also been nominated for the Ministry of Railways Development.

This was in a statement read by the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye on the Floor of Parliament today, [Wednesday].

In all, twelve new ministerial positions were announced by the Speaker.

This brings to 25 the total list of nominees appointed by the president after announcing 13 names on Tuesday.

The New Patriotic Party’s Volta Regional Chairman, Peter Amewu, has also been named as the nominee for the Ministry of Lands and Forestry.

About Joe Ghartey:

Joe Ghartey was born 15 June 1961, in Accra. He is a lawyer, academic and politician.

He hails from Shama, in the Western Region. Ghartey is currently the NPP Member of Parliament for Essikado/Ketan Constituency in the Western Region of the Republic of Ghana.

He was first elected to the seat in the December 2004 elections and was re-elected in both the December 2008 and December 2012 elections. In all the three elections he was not contested in the primaries of the NPP to choose the parliamentary candidate for the Constituency.

During the administration of President John Agyekum Kufuor, Ghartey was appointed Deputy Attorney General and Deputy Minister of Justice in March 2005.

He was soon promoted and appointed the substantive Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in June 2006, a position he held until January 2009 following the electoral loss of the NPP in the 2008 general elections. Ghartey was the longest serving Attorney-General and Minister of Justice under the Kufuor administration.

In June 2006, a Ministerial reshuffle by President Kufuor saw Ghartey being elevated from the position of Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice to the substantive position of Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.

After the 2012 general elections, Hon. Ghartey was nominated by the NPP minority in parliament to the position of Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament in the 6th Parliament of the 4th Republic.

Below is the full list announced by the Speaker of Parliament:

1.Dr Akoto Osei – Minister, Monitoring and Evaluation

2.Dan Botwe – Minister Regional Reorganisation and Special Projects

3. John Peter Amewu – Lands and Forestry

4.Otiko Djaba – Gender and Social Protection

5.Ignatius Baffour Awuah – Employment and Labour Relations

6.Kwaku Ofori Asiamah – Transport

7.Joe Ghartey – Railways Development

8. Kwesi Amoako Atta – Roads and Highways

9.Ursula Owusu – Communications

10. Kofi Adda – Water Resources and Sanitation
11. Atta Akyea – Works and Housing
12. Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng – Environment,Science and Technology

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

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