The Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has dismissed claims by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that its flagship ‘One-Village, One-Dam’ (1V1D) programme is deceptive.
In a statement last Sunday, the NDC described as substandard some dams being constructed in some selected villages in the northern part of Ghana in fulfillment of the government’s 1V1D promise. The NDC also called to question the specifications of the dams, describing them as “dugouts” and not “dams”.
But in a quick response, Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said the comments of the NDC is characteristic of a usual propaganda and should be taken with a pinch of salt.
He said government is delivering exactly what it promised and what the people asked for, emphasizing: “It must be noted that the beneficiary communities in requesting for the dams did not request an Akosombo-like type of dam”.
“The model and specification of dams requested for under this programme are the exact type known to the people in the beneficiary communities,” he reiterated.
Though he conceded there were challenges with a few of the dams, the minister maintained the project is on course and will better serve the needs of the people whom he said the NDC could not do anything about their problems.
He further disputed the numbers also peddled by the opposition as the number of dams under construction.
“Seventy of the dams in the Upper East Region will be available for use before the peak of the rainy season. The remaining dams are expected to be completed after the rainy season. Therefore, the claim that only 40 dams have so far been constructed is another one of the usual falsehoods the NDC often attempts to feed the Ghanaian public with,” he clarified.
