NPP National Youth Organiser, Nana B
In what may be best described as “week of lies and exposures”, the youth wing of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has exposed yet another untruth peddled by surrogates of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The NPP’s youth wing, in its ‘Youth Must Know’ series, has exposed what it calls “a grand charade to revive the deceptive unprecedented infrastructure achievement mantra” of the NDC.
The NDC’s National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, last week claimed that the erstwhile John Mahama government, between 2013 and 2016, built over 3,000 Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds. His statement followed earlier claims by the party’s flagbearer, former President John Dramani Mahama, that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo led government has abandoned health infrastructural projects started by his administration. The accusation has since been debunked with facts from the Ministry of Health.
A statement issued by the NPP youth wing described the “untruths” put out by the NDC as “ineffective and scruffy” strategy, and reminded Ghanaians of the phantom hospital projects captured in the opposition party’s “Green Book and Manifesto ostensibly to create a false impression in the minds” of the public.
“The NDC, in a clandestine manner, has set in motion, a grand charade to revive the deceptive unprecedented infrastructure achievement mantra that failed to hoodwink Ghanaians in 2016,” said the statement issued by Henry Nana Boakye, National Youth Organiser of the NPP.
“Delusional claims”
According to the NPP youth wing, the data available does not support the “wild delusional claims” of the NDC. It pointed out that the number of CHPS compounds constructed by the erstwhile Mahama led NDC administration, as captured in all the budget statements (2012-2017), presented to Parliament put the figure at “808 completed and 190 uncompleted projects”.
The statement said in the first year of the Mahama administration, only 19 CHPS compounds were constructed while works on 24 new ones commenced, summing up to 43.
“In paragraph 630 of the 2015 budget, the government stated that ‘the Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) concept remains the Ministry’s main strategy of bringing basic health services to the community level. In this regard, a total of 724 CHPS zones were made functional’. This presupposes that 724 CHPS Compounds were built in 2014,” the statement said.
It further noted that there is no record of commencement of construction and/or completion of new CHPS compounds in the 2015 fiscal year. “The records show that, in 2015, the government focused on the revision of the Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Policy and Strategy and completed same before the 2016 budget was presented to Parliament,” it added.
It further said the NDC government in 2016 started the construction of 250 CHPS compounds, completing only 60 and leaving 190 uncompleted.
NPP’s achievement
The NPP youth added that the Akufo-Addo government, within three years, has undertaken over 700 infrastructural projects. They include district hospitals, polyclinics, community clinics, community health centres, CHPS compounds, staff bungalows, among others, according to the statement.
“Aside these, seven regional hospitals, three infectious disease control centres, 88 district hospitals, nine polyclinics and dozens of CHPS compounds and community clinics have been earmarked for construction this year,” the statement added.
