Former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, has said that although the NPP administration has done a bit in dealing with the economic challenges, there are still some problems that must be dealt with.
He asked the government to admit the shortcomings and find solutions to them.
Speaking on the Hot Issues with TV3’s Keminni Amanor on Sunday, January 7, he said “Governments are put in place to solve problems. We have done a bit but there are still more areas where there are challenges and I think we have to be honest to admit those shortcomings and move on.”
The one-time flagbearer aspirant of the NPP further said that the Akufo-Addo-led government has stretched itself too thin in the governance of the country.
According to him, this has resulted in the impact it has made so far, not being felt by the general populace.
“If you look at the record of this government, there are quite a number of things that you can speak to. Like infrastructural development. I am a civil engineer and I speak with a lot of experience regarding that. I don’t think I have seen a government that has touched so many roads around the country all at the same time.
In fact, I believe they’ve spread themselves too thin. So, sometimes the impact is not felt in many areas. But it is an attempt at equitable distribution of the national cake to make sure that all parts of the country are touched,” he said on Hot Issues with Keminni Amanor, January 7.
Mr Agyepong added that development of the road sector and education infrastructure are some of the very high points of this government.
“If you look at education facilities for instance. The TVET schools, its not only in Accra. It’s been spread around I think about six to ten of them are nearing completion,” the former General Secretary of the NPP explained.
He noted that although he was not enthused about Agenda 111, they will contribute to the hospital inftrasture base of the country.
“The whole attempt to have agenda 111. I was not in favour of attempting to build a hundred and eleven hospitals at the same time, especially when we are going through economic turmoil. A lot of them are nearing completion. I think about thirty or so are nearing completion around the country. I don’t have the figures directly but I can tell you there are a lot of them nearing completion. So on that balance sheet, it looks good with the provision of infrastructure.But there are areas that we have struggled” Mr Agyepong pointed out.
The former presidential spokesperson also stated that he believes in hard work than slogans.
He said he has never used the expression ‘break the 8’ as the NPP seeks to win the 2024 general elections.
If the NPP wins this year’s elections, it will be the first party to break the 8-year electoral cycle.
Asked whether the NPP can break the 8 he said “I have never used ‘break the 8’, I don’t like slogans, I don’t like sloganeering, I believe in hard work.”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo earlier indicated that breaking the 8 was feasible.
“Breaking the eight is very feasible. Many people forget that in 2008 when we lost, we nearly broke the eight if you look at the vote margin.
“Overall, we were short by 40,000 votes. That was a tiny margin so it tells you that if NPP puts things together, we can make history,” he noted.
President Akufo-Addo said this in a radio interview with Nalerigu-based Nobya FM during one of his earlier tours of the North East Region.