Dr Lawrence Appiah
Last week, the Finance Minister, one of the 125 ministers in this family and friend’s government, went to parliament and presented the budget for 2020. He called it the “the year of roads” budget but deliberately omitted the Volta Region from the list of regions that will benefit from these roads. Are you surprised though? The Senior minister has come out quickly to admit it as a mistake. They didn’t forget to add newly created Oti Region but forgot about one of the oldest regions in Ghana. Do you believe him? Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa has explained the process budgets go through and for all 125 competent Ministers to miss it, is a problem.
I heard the Finance Minister went back to parliament and amended his earlier submission. So, what would have happened to the critical roads in Volta Region, had Hon. Ablakwa not caught them sleeping? So, what role did Dr. Bawumiah and Nana Akufo-Addo play in the final budget document that was read in Parliament? With all these eyes looking into the budget, how could they miss such an important project in a whole region? What then happens to the districts and constituencies in the region? Your guess is as good as mine.
It is true that Nana Addo didn’t honor the invitation to attend the Hogdetsosto festival? Did he snub the festival, or has he given his reason for not attending? Nana was in the region the following day and instead of talking about his achievements for the region, he rather talked about President John Mahama and the NDC. It was like, he wished he had not gone to the region at all.
What I also heard about the 2016 election results was that there was apathy from the Volta Region. There is enough evidence that the votes from Volta Region dropped between 2012 and 2016. Some attributed it to lack of developments in Volta by the Mahama administration. Assuming that is all true, they now have a President who deliberately omitted their progress from the national budget. They now have a President, and there is evidence to show that he has neglected them. Are they happy with that? Is that a better alternative to JM and the NDC?
Ladies and gentlemen, Nana Akufo-Addo has shown beyond reasonable doubt that he doesn’t like the Volta Region. He can’t omit the whole region from such an important document and tell us that it was a mistake. How many mistakes do they want to make as a government? They called the budget as “Nkabom” (Unity) budget when they knew they had taken the Volta Region out. Think deep about it. The Volta Region is lucky to have people like Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa in parliament to be fighting for them.
The good news for Volta is that on December 7, 2020, you will have another opportunity to get rid of the person who has neglected you or you continue to sleep with your enemy. The choice will be yours but this time around, staying at home as a punishment for the NDC should never be an option for you. You should never again be a victim of this “mistake” government. I urge Ghanaians to also reject the NPP in 2020 by mistake. Enough of this nonsense!
The writer, Dr Lawrence Appiah is the Founder of the Diaspora Progressive Movement based in USA.
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