<<Print>>

Hon. Emmanuel Kyeremateng Agyarko, Member of Parliament of the Ayawaso West Wuogon, insists if if government truly had the interest of the masses at heart, it would have put in place measures to forestall Wednesday's tragic twin fire and flood disaster which claimed over 150 lives.

He therefore wants the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Dr Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, to resign honourably; because he believes the President, John Dramani Mahama lacks the boldness to outrightly dismiss erring appointees.

Likening government and the Mayor's attitude towards the country's needs to that of "a father who knows he has to pay school fees" but fails to "prioritize and rather waste his money on alcohol and fruitless expenditure", the former Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) Chief Executive indicted the president for his inaction saying if he (Mahama) cared enough, “he would have fired the Mayor.“

The AMA Boss had earlier in the year promised to turn Accra into a Millennium City; that is yet to see the light of day. He was recently conferred with the prestigious Jose Eduardo dos Santos African Best Mayor award at the second African urban infrastructure investment forum; an award some insist he does not deserve.

Others have also spoken against the numerous congratulatory bill boards which features the "Mayor" proudly showing off his award dotted around the city.

Over the weekend, he was reported to have admitted in an interview with CitiFM that he has failed the city.

In June last year, the president directed the Minister of Finance to immediately release funds for the Conti Project agreement after snap visits to flooded areas in Accra.

But prior to Dr Alfred Oko Vanderpuiye's admission, he had laid blame at the doorstep of the Finance Ministry, saying the delay in the release of funds granted by the Exim bank of America for the CONTI project which will include dredging the Odaw River in the center of the city and construction of some major drains, is part of the cause of the flooding.

However, the sector minister, Seth Terkper, in a swift denial, pointed out that funds meant for the widely publicized Conti Project, are yet to hit government’s accounts. According to him, the AMA had not completed the processes required for the release of the funds although the President had cut sod for the contrusction of the drains to begin.

"...although the term-sheet covering the multi-million dollar loan facility on the project has received Parliamentary approval, disbursement of the funds by the US Exim Bank has stalled because of variations made to the original project plan and scope," he explained.

Making his submissions on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo", Hon. Kyeremateng Agyarko, opined that funds for the construction of the Circle overpass plus what the state invested in the recent hosting of the mayor's conference could have been used to construct the drains.

To him, if the AMA boss had lived up to his responsibilities, floods of such magnitude would not have occurred in the capital. This, in his conviction, is enough grounds for Mr. Oko Vanderpuiye to step down or be sacked from office.

He further alluded to a statement, he (the AMA boss) is purported to have made that he had failed Ghanaians in spite of his "Lord Mayor" title.

“If you have failed, then why are you still at post? As for this government, I’m not sure that President Mahama will have the courage to tell the Mayor to go home. The man should have been gone by now...I believe that if the Mayor has a conscience he would have resigned. It is under your watch that Accra has experienced its saddest day," Hon. Kyeremateng Agyarko stressed.