STATEMENT BY MINORITY IN PARLIAMENT ON PURPORTED SOD CUTTING FOR WORK ON KUMASI

AIRPORT PHASE II

The Minority Caucus in Parliament has received with shock and bewilderment, news that President
Akufo Addo will cut sod for work on the second phase of the Kumasi International Airport.

The purported sod cutting by the President would amount to a needless waste of time and scarce
national resources in view of the fact that his predecessor, President John Dramani Mahama, performed
the same ceremony on 5th December,2016.

President Mahama performed the ceremony after securing parliamentary approval of a loan
of 65,037,500 Euros from Banco Santander S.A. and export credit support from the United Kingdom
Export Finance Agency, for onward lending in the sum of 7,762,500 Euros, to the Ghana Airports
Company Limited, in November ,2016.

This was preceded by Cabinet and PPA approvals.

We note that the same contractor with whom an agreement was entered in 2016 to execute the project
has been retained for the project. We find it inexplicable therefore, that the President would waste
scarce national resources only to perform a ceremony that has already been undertaken by his
processor.

This sort of conduct smacks of desperation and are symptomatic of a government that has nothing to
show for the billions of Ghana Cedis it has borrowed since January,2017.

The Minority caucus in Parliament deplores this level of populism and shallow opportunism through
which the Akufo Addo government seeks to take undue credit for the work of others.

We wish to also put on record that similar work was done by the NDC government under President
Mahama in respect of the Tamale Airport and we expect that the Akufo Addo government will go
through the motions and formalities to ensure the commencement of work on the phase two of that
project.
About $ 150 million was approved by Parliament in November,2016 for the execution of the second
phase for the project following the completion of the first which saw the extension of the runway.

Hon Kwame Governs Agbodza

MP for Adaklu and Ranking Member on Road and Transport Committee of Parliament.

Wednesday,6th June,2018