Director of Conflict Resolution and former Director of Legal Affairs for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Abraham Amaliba, expressed his concern over the Akufo-led NPP government’s apparent lack of fear regarding public opinion.
He was particularly dismayed by revelations made at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) sitting on Thursday, May 9, regarding the payment of US$11 million to a contractor for the Pwalugu multipurpose dam project, despite no visible progress at the site.
Amaliba described the site as “a grassland” with no work done.
The Pwalugu project, a flagship initiative of the current government, includes components for power generation, irrigation, and flood control.
Speaking on The Big Issue on TV3 on Friday, the private legal practitioner and NDC communicator stressed that Ghanaians should be more vocal in expressing their dissatisfaction with the Akufo-Addo government.
“Yesterday, listening to the public accounts committee, I cringed when I heard 11 million dollars was paid to a contractor for the completion of the Pwaulu Multipurpose Dam.
Yet when you go to that place, it is grassland. And you wonder why criminals who have taken over the reins of government would do this to mother Ghana.
“Aren’t you angry? You have a situation where money is paid to a contractor and you get to the site, there is nothing there, and you say I shouldn’t describe them as thieves,” he said.
“I am of the view that, as a country, we have not lived up to expectations as a people. When a government gets to a point where it doesn’t fear the wrath of the people, this is what happens.
Governments must always be afraid of the people…but you get to a point where the government does not fear the wrath of the people, you have these things happening.”
He added, “You give 11 million dollars out as the final payment and yet there is not a single block laid at the place.”
Construction activities began in November 2019 after President Akufo-Addo ceremonially initiated the project. Subsequently, Parliament approved the project on February 26, 2020.
Financed by the Government of Ghana, the project is expected to be completed within approximately fifty (50) months.