Don’t blame me for your failed promises – Jinapor tells Akuffo-Addo

The Member of Parliament(MP) for the Yapei-Kusawgu constituency in the Savannah Region John Abdulai Jinapor has hit back at President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo for accusing him of underdevelopment in his constituency.

The former Deputy Energy Minister in a response seen by MyNewsGh.com said President Nana Addo during his tour of the Savannah Region accused him of failing to support the establishment of a Senior High School in the area and the connection of some 17 communities to the national electricity grid.

President Nana Addo in a response to inquiries from chiefs of the Yapei-Kusawgu Constituency about a promise to establish a new SHS in the area reportedly chastised the National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for the constituency for failing to support the establishment of the school.

The President also reportedly called out the MP who was a deputy energy minister for failing to see to it that some 17 communities in the constituency were connected to electricity.

In his response, John Jinapor wrote “President Akuffo-Addo rather chose to throw wild and flippant allegations against me, Hon John Jinapor, for what he described as my inability to connect some 17 communities to the national electricity grid.

"As if that was not enough, he proceeded to accuse me of not helping to establish the Senior High school that he, President Akuffo-Addo promised.

 

"For the record, when I was appointed the Deputy Minister of Energy and Petroleum, the Yapei-Kusawgu Constituency had only 4 towns connected to the national grid (i.e. Buipe, Yapei, Sankpala and Kusawgu)”.

John Jinapor argued that his constituency currently has about 100 communities connected to the national grid as part of an aggressive national electrification programme under the NDC Government.

“So Mr. President, if we have only 17 towns yet to be connected to the national grid, the critical question you should answer is what have you done so far to complement what you inherited? You cannot be sleeping on the job and blame others for your own failures,” he added.

Find full statement below:

EXPOSING THE FABRICATIONS OF A NON-PERFORMING GOVERNMENT

 

During the recent visit of President Akuffo-Addo to the Savannah Region, the chiefs of the Yapei-Kusawgu Constituency sought to enquire from the President when he will fulfill his campaign promises of creating a new district out of the Central Gonja District and the establishment of a new Senior High school in the Kusawgu area.

 

In response, President Akuffo-Addo rather chose to throw wild and flippant allegations against me, Hon John Jinapor, for what he described as my inability to connect some 17 communities to the national electricity grid. As if that was not enough, he procedeed to  accuse me of not helping to establish the Senior High school that he, President Akuffo-Addo promised.

 

For the record, when I was appointed the Deputy Minister of Energy and Petroleum, the Yapei-Kusawgu Constituency had only 4 towns connected to the national grid (i.e. Buipe, Yapei, Sankpala and Kusawgu).

 

By dint of hardwork, the constituency currently has about 100 communities connected to the national grid as part of an aggressive national electrification programme under the NDC Government.

 

So Mr. President, if we have only 17 towns yet to be connected to the national grid, the critical question you should answer is what have you done so far to complement what you inherited? You cannot be sleeping on the job and blame others for your own failures.

 

More importantly, at national level, the NDC Government expanded access to electricity from 50% to 83.24%. This can be confirmed in Paragraph 463 of the 2017 budget as presented by Mr. Ken Ofori-Attah,  the Finance Minister: “ Under rural electrification, 1,212 communities were connected to the national grid increasing the national electricity access rate from 80.5 percent to 83.24  percent”.

 

President Akuffo-Addo since assuming office and despite receiving over 20 billion Cedis in ESLA Revenues, has only increased the access rate by a paltry 3%—thus from 83.24% to 86.63% as captured  under Paragraph 810 of the 2022 budget: “ In pursuit of H.E. The President’s aspiration to achieve universal coverage of  electricity by 2024, a total of 162 communities were connected to the national  grid thereby increasing the national electricity access rate from 85.17 percent in  2020 to 86.63 percent in 2021.

 

On the education front, President Mahama can be credited for 3 senior high schools ( Buipe Senior High, Buipe Technical and Mpaha Senior High) in the Yapei-Kusawgu Constituency.

 

 It is an undeniable fact that the NDC government under the leadership of President Mahama,  the Yapei-Kusawgu witnesses the commencement and commissioning of the Buipe Cement Factory and the Sheanut Processing factory not to mention the ultramodern Buipe District Hospital.  Unfortunately under President Akuffo-Addo, the Sheanut factory has been grossly mismanaged and run-down for sometime now. No wonder he conveniently refused to visit Buipe, the district capital of the Central Gonja District.

 

For someone who failed to provide portable drinking water for his own people as Minister and MP, untill President Mahama provided portable water for the people of Kyebi, the least President Akuffo-Addo can do is to acknowledge the good works of his predecessor.

 

I wish to entreat President Akuffo-Addo to crosscheck his facts in future before seeking to deceive the citizenry with concocted, unsubstantiated and fabricated allegations.

 

Ghanaians are indeed suffering under the abysmal performance of the Nana/Bawumia government and the least they can expect from this non-performing government is to be truthful and honest with the facts.

 

 John Abdulai Jinapor

Former Deputy Minister of Energy and Petroleum

26th August, 2022

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