Engineers descend on Atta Akyea over 'unqualified' comment

The President of the West African Federation of Engineering Organization has condemned Minister for Works and Housing Hon. Atta Akyea for his comments that Ghanaian contractors are unprofessional.

Hon. Atta Akyea last week described Ghanaian contractors as unqualified as they always do shoddy works anytime they are given government contracts.

“For the engineer, who is outside, it is a legacy, so that your name is permanently written… but for the Ghanaian engineer, it’s not like that. He is trying to look at situations to make good money and leaving us a shoddy job,” the minister said.

But in a statement, the West African Federation of Engineering Organization condemned the comments by the minister of Works and Housing and demanded an unqualified apology

“We do hope that you will render an unqualified apology to Ghana and Africa for that matter,” the statement demanded.

Read the full statement below.

I refer to the recent statement made by the Minister of Works and Housing as reported on the www.ghanaweb.com page.

The President of the West African Federation of Engineering Organization considers the statement by the Minister of Works and Housing that local engineers in Ghana are not trustworthy as an affront and flagrant disrespect not only to Ghanaians but to the people of Africa.

While the President of the Republic has repeatedly assured Ghanaians of creating jobs and ensuring that Ghanaians would not depend on others, the Minister proudly discredits Ghanaian engineers publicly and declares his preference to make Israeli engineers.

Granted that in every society you may find some misfits, does not warrant the Minister to consider several of Ghana’s accomplished engineers as not trustworthy. The minister would care to know that just as he thinks engineers from Israel or say the West has a legacy to protect, there are many accomplished Ghanaian engineers of international repute who also have a legacy to protect and do raise Ghana’s flag high beyond the borders of this country.

Is the minister using this as an excuse to award projects to his Israeli cronies? Granted that the Israeli engineers he prefers have a high pedigree, they have been made and developed by the systems that exist in their country and the country’s leadership.

The Federation hopes that those who elect to be leaders would be decorous in their discourse and beyond that provide the kind of transformational leadership that brings massive changes to society as a whole.

It is amazing how our politicians are quick to pay expatriate firms compared to their Ghanaian counterparts. This growing trend must stop if indeed Ghana and for that matter, Africa will rise.

If Africa will rise it can and would be done by her people, not expatriates. The British built in the United Kingdom, Chinese built China, and Ghanaian leadership must proudly promote Ghanaians to build Ghana. If we think others would do it for us then we better forget it.

Hon. Minister, if you care to know there are respectable Africans and for that matter respectable Ghanaians all over.

We do not believe that if say a lawyer or judge is found to demonstrate unethical behaviour then all lawyers in Ghana are like that; or if an MP is found to have shown dishonour to the office of MP, all MPs in Ghana are considered to be dishonourable.

We do hope that you will render an unqualified apology to Ghana and Africa for that matter.