Why abandon Saglemi Housing project to start a new one? – Kwame Minkah tackles Akufo-Addo

Host of current affairs programme Dwaboase on TV XYZ and Power FM, Prince Kwame Minkah says he cannot fathom why the Akifo-Addo government abandoned the Saglemi Housing project it inherited from the NDC to start a new housing project some seven years after assuming power.

So far $198 million has been expended on the 5000-unit Saglemi Housing project which is a public housing project located in Prampram.

The Ghana Home Loans Company was to provide mortgage arrangements for the housing units to be sold to employees. Currently, about 1506 housing units have been completed following a variation in the project.

President Akufo-Addo has described the abandoned Saglemi affordable housing scheme as too costly to complete.

This was after he cut sod for the construction of a new affordable housing project at Pokuase in Accra on Tuesday, August 1, 2023.

Speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony, President Akufo-Addo said the government would have incurred more debt in an attempt to complete the Saglemi Housing Project.

“It has been established that in addition to the $198 million already expended on the project, the government has to raise additional funding to the tune of $ 46 million to complete the infrastructural works. That is water, electricity, and drains to mitigate flooding.

“Further, $68million is required to complete the buildings and other essential onsite infrastructure works like the waste holding bay, sewage treatment plants and the development of socioeconomic and civic infrastructure such as basic school, clinic and shops,” he stated.

But Kwame Minkah disagrees with the President, saying the amount needed to complete the existing Saglemi Housing Project is far less than what is being pumped into the new housing project.

To him, “President Akufo-Addo is in his extra time” and he doubts if the project can be successfully completed to serve its purpose before his tenure ends in 2024.

He talked about the project on the Tonton Sansan segment on Dwaboase.