News:
September 1, 2011
A group, Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA), has called on the people of northern Ghana not to renew the mandate of parliamentarians, both in the majority and minority, from the north in the 2012 elections.
According to the group, both majority and minority members of Parliament from the three northern regions have over the years not only failed to champion the cause of northern Ghana and articulate the concerns of their constituents but have woefully failed in their core mandate to check Government’s diversion or misappropriation of public funds meant for the development of northern Ghana.
In a press release copied to Citi News, the president of NORPRA, Ayorogo Adongo Bismark said, Parliament in 2008 approved a loan of $500 million from the government of Brazil for the construction of two projects, Pwalugu hydroelectric project in the Upper East region and another one in Juale in the Northern region.
However and surprisingly, the Pwalugu project was deleted from government’s major policy statement in the 2010 Budget statement and economic policy delivered by the finance minister.
He noted that on page 6 of a publication of the NDC government’s top 50 Achievements, the government diverted and converted half of the loan, Gh¢ 250 Million, from the Brazilian government to the construction of a different project at the Eastern corridor.
This development according to him, indicates that the two hydro-electric power projects to be executed in northern Ghana have been abandoned. Mr. Ayorogo is therefore demanding an explanation backed by proof from the government and Parliament when the decision to divert the money to the Eastern corridor project was approved in parliament.
Mr. Adongo bemoaned the fact that the projects to be financed by the recently approved loan of $3 billion from the China Development Bank do not include a single project in northern Ghana and no MP on the floor of parliament questioned the absence.
He said it was sad to see most northern MPs very excited in the massive voice for the loan without pausing to think of whether or not their constituents will benefit from the facility which is to be paid for by all Ghanaians in the foreseeable future.
Mr. Adongo pointed out that the failure of the executive arm of government to allocate a reasonable sum of money from this huge loan facility to finance SADA projects is only a continuation of his predecessor’s actions with the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) which he says did not also help develop the northern regions.
This, he contended, was a confirmation of NORPRA’S long held position that the lack of practical commitment to the SADA initiative is not a question of inadequate resources but a manifestation that the development of northern Ghana was not a priority of the Mills-Mahama NDC administration.
Source: Citifmonline.com