The former Minister of Finance and Governor of the Bank of Ghana however appears to have set the NDC on an unintentional road of confusion over a project he launched on April 7, 2022.
The ‘Ahotor Project’ was launched in Ashaiman with the hope of replicating it in other parts of the country.
The project is expected to bring financial empowerment to NDC grassroots at the constituency levels, presenting unprecedented, timely financial empowerment to the members of the party.
But what exactly is the Ahotor Project?
The Ahotor Project hopes to bring on board micro-businesses focusing on social events such as funerals, naming ceremonies, marriage ceremonies, durbars, political campaigns, and rallies which are mostly outdoor activities.
The nature of these activities places high demands on the use of plastic chairs, canopies, public address systems, power generators, podiums, mobile toilets etc.
Therefore, a local rental business of the accessories owned and run by the party at various constituency levels will create employment opportunities and generate income which will bring relief (Ahotor) to the grassroots.
The business initiative is a rental service involving the provision of rental equipment to each constituency, for the above-mentioned events.
As a breakdown, these are the equipment per constituency, as stated in the Ahotor Project:
• One hundred plastic chairs
• One public address system (sound system)
• Four canopies
Ahotor Project Implementation Costs
The Ahotor Project is estimated to cost a total of GH¢8,250,000, excluding the associated mobilization costs.
What the NDC party said about the Ahotor Project
In a June 25, 2022, report sourced to classfmonline.com, the General Secretary of the opposition NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, stated that the Ahotor Business Project was a project that is first in the history of party politics in Ghana.
He added that he was not surprised it was Dr. Kwabena Duffuor who initiated the historic NDC Ahotor Project because he was the same Minister of Finance who turned Ghana’s economy around.
“This project is the first of its kind since our party was established. We have been engaging with the donor and we want to collaborate with Dr. Duffuor to structure the project very well in accordance with the party’s principles, procedures and laws. This is what caused the delay in officially endorsing the project,” he said.
Asiedu Nketiah also reiterated the importance of donations, dues, and contributions to the continual running of the opposition party and encouraged party members and the general public to emulate the example of Kwabena Duffuor as the party prepares to wrestle power in 2024 from the ruling NPP government.
He further praised the Ahotor Project as a sustainable one which will not only earn income for the party, but will also save the party lots of money as the party will no longer have to rent PA system, chairs and canopies for its own outdoor programs.
“This money could have been used in buying consumables; like the NPP was distributing frozen chicken parts in the last elections. This Ahotor Project is intended to build the capacity of the party structure to run effectively. It is not going to provide anybody pocket money. It is a contribution that will support the party itself to grow, to develop its own capacity to finance its activities and I think that in that sense it is a very commendable project,” he added.
Asiedu Nketiah ‘fights’ Dr. Duffuor on Ahotor Project implementation
It would seem everything was going on well between Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, the implementation of the Ahotor Project, and the leadership of the NDC until Asiedu Nketia made another comment on the project.
Asiedu Nketiah, while speaking to the press at the annual conference for NDC lawyers, stated that contrary to an agreement reached after the launch of the programme of the Ahotor Project, Dr. Duffuor had not stuck to his part of things.
According to General Mosquito, the agreement was that the NDC would be in charge of the implementation but they had gathered intelligence that Dr. Kwabena Duffuor was going ahead to distribute some equipment in Kumasi.
"We have received information from Kumasi that Dr. Duffuor is going to distribute some equipment to our constituencies at Kumasi and we feel betrayed. It is not a bad thing if a former minister wants to support the party in any way, but there is a process that we go through.
"We actually heard about the launching of this project where it was supposed to be launched at Ashaiman. We felt that the design (of the Ahorto project) and its launch was problematic. We invited Dr. Duffuor and his followers, and we sat down because we thought that we could resolve whatever was wrong … so that donations are channeled through proper sources," he said.
“If Dr. Duffour intends to make this donation to the party a genuine donation, he should be prepared to pass through the proper channels. He has his equipment. Whatever he is doing with his equipment, it cannot happen in the name of the NDC,” he said.
Shock as Duffuor camp replies Asiedu Nketiah
The Duffuor camp after hearing what the NDC General Secretary said on the plan to make the donations in Kumasi, responded.
In a statement, the Duffuor camp made it clear that the agreement they came to with the NDC party was not for them to, at any time, be in charge of making presentations by Dr. Kwabena Duffuor to constituents in any part of the country.
“We at the Ahotor project secretariat would like to state for the public record, and in categorical terms, that at no point in time did Dr. Kwabena Duffuor intend for his special initiative, created specifically for the benefit of the grassroots of the NDC to become a donation to the party headquarters.
“This is the main reason why Dr. Duffuor initially went directly to gift the equipment for the Ahotor project directly to the Ashaiman constituency executives.
“The idea of donation was originated by the party national executives who felt after the Ashaiman launch that the project ought to pass through their hands,” it said.
The story seems to have only started and GhanaWeb will keep its tabs on the development and accordingly share them with its readers.
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Dr. Kwabena Duffuor is the initiator of the Ahotor Project