Mahama being dishonest with Kyebi road claim – Oppong Nkrumah

The Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says former President John Mahama is being dishonest when he said the government had prioritised roads in the President’s hometown, Kyebi.

Mr. Mahama suggested that goverment was undertaking such road projects at the expense of the more socio-economically significant Eastern Corridor road.

In his response, The Minister said the Kyebi road was a state project taken off the cocoa roads list just like “many other roads that have been taken out and are being funded through various sources.”

“It is just political disingenuity to try and pick on this and begin to pit the people of Jasikan and the Eastern Corridor against the people of Kyebi by trying to use these juxtapositions,” Mr. Oppong Nkrumah added.

The Kyebi road received attention despite a number of road projects being suspended.

Mr. Oppong Nkrumah explained that the Government had to suspend the road projects due to a lack of sustainable funding.

“What has happened is that we have had to find various funding sources, especially after they mortgaged the road fund away and you couldn’t get much from the road fund.”

But the Eastern Corridor road is set to benefit from the $2 billion Sinohydro agreement.

Under phase two of the project, there is expected to be work on the Hohoe-Jasikan-Dodo Pepesu Road of the Eastern Corridor.




This will involve the construction of the 66-kilometre section of the Eastern Corridor Road between Hohoe to Jasikan and Dodo Pepesu;

The 965-kilometre road goes through the Greater Accra, Eastern, Volta, Northern and Upper East Regions.

The road project was awarded in September 2011 and work commenced in November 2011.

Seven different contractors over the years were awarded different contracts on different sections of the road.

COCOBOD is supposed to be funding the Xave-Hohoe Lots 1&2 (51.3km), and Hohoe-Jasikan (32km) stretches of the road.

But there have been financial challenges as funding from COCOBOD have been suspended.

The section from Dodo Pepesu to Nkwanta was funded by an EU loan of a little over 20 million Euros.

President Nana Akufo-Addo has assured that work on the Eastern corridor roads will resume in July 2019.

Source: citinewsroom.com