General News of Thursday, 1 October 2020

Source: GNA

CVM calls on NDC to explain its silence on Saglemi housing project

John Dramani Mahama, flagbearer of NDC John Dramani Mahama, flagbearer of NDC

The Concerned Voters Movement has called on the members of the National Democratic Congress Manifesto drafting committee to explain to Ghanaians, their silence on the Saglemi Housing Project.

“In their manifesto, the former President John Dramani Mahama who is leading the party in 2020 elections under Social Housing of the NDC Manifesto page 94, promised that “The next NDC Government will, over a four year period roll out an aggressive social housing plan to deliver a minimum of 20,000 low-income houses in all 260 Metropolis, Municipalities and Districts.

"We at the CVM want to know; why Mr. Mahama and the entire NDC’s People’s Manifesto silent over Saglemi Affordable Housing project which the NDC government started in 2012 and is still uncompleted?

This was in a statement signed by Mr Razak Kojo Opoku, Founder and President of the CVM and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra. It said a critical examination of the NDC’s People’s Manifesto depicts complete departure of reality.

The CVM said they expected that the 143-page document would be a social contract between the NDC and Ghanaians, giving millions of citizen’s aspirations to develop their potentials regardless of their social, economic and political backgrounds.

It said the NDC People’s Manifesto depicted a different picture of what social democrats’ were aspiring for and rather focused on championing an agenda of winning the 2020 elections through policies.

The statement said among other promises under social housing, Mr. Mahama also pledged that “The next NDC Government will work to end the crisis of access and cost of securing affordable land for residential purposes and the 5000 housing unit facility, which was started by the NDC administration in 2012, is seated on a 300-acre land with one to three bedroom apartments for low-income designed to reduce the country’s massive housing deficit. But what is the end result today?”

It questioned how $200 million budgeted for 5000 housing units remained the same budget for 1,502 or 1,024 housing units and called on Ghanaian voters to reject the NDC in the coming elections.

The statement noted that the stalled Saglemi Housing Project was one of classic examples of how the NDC administration under Mr Mahama flawed.

It said, the NDC People’s Manifestos failed to capture any aspect of their flagship housing project and the CVM will continue to expose them on some of their promises.