The gimmickry of 'Agenda 111' to Kumawuman

“Agenda 111” is a nationally known and acceptable flagship policy of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government led by His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

It is understandably all about the president’s vision to construct one hundred and eleven government hospitals, one each in the one hundred and eleven districts in Ghana that are currently without any, or standard, government-built district hospitals.

It is a noble idea for the president to be that visionary to consider the health of Ghanaians as vital to the nation’s economic emancipation and nation-building hence desiring to construct more hospitals to cater to Ghanaians.

However, to the proud and fearless son of Kumawu/Asiampa, Rockson Adofo, I see the president’s unrelenting determination to ensure that every district in Ghana is provided with a befitting government-built hospital as simply a political gimmick if it does not include the Kumawu district.

How can Kumawu district be left out of the provision of district hospitals, if I dare to query the president and his NPP government? Kumawu district, for the attention of the worldwide public, is without any district hospital of the nature His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo intends to build for every district as envisioned in his probably commenced “Agenda 111”.

However, Kumawu Sekyere district or constituency has always been voting NPP in every general election except two. The first exception was when democratic elections were first introduced in Ghana to elect the nation’s first president and parliament in which Mr Krobo Adusei of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) was elected the member of parliament for Sekyere East Constituency, and Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the president. The second time was during the 1992 general elections where the NPP boycotted the parliamentary elections on the advice of its flagbearer-cum-presidential candidate Professor Adu Boahene, my Juaben-Ashanti compatriot.

The boycotting of the parliamentary election of 1992 was based on the clearly ascertained fact, or suspicion that then Head of State Jerry John Rawlings of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), turned into a civilian, formed the NDC political party, and contested as a presidential candidate, had rigged the presidential election preceding the parliamentary one to win the presidency. Therefore, what was the guarantee that he was not going to rig the parliamentary one for his party?

Only the NDC and other marginal parties filed candidates for the 1992 parliamentary election hence NDC won the Kumawu Sekyere constituency for the first and last time as at writing.

For this reason, the NPP did not file any candidates throughout the country to contest in that election as said.

Why should Kumawu constituency or district that has always been voting NPP be left out when it comes to the sharing of the national cake, e.g. district hospitals?

The public must note that the NDC government under former President John Dramani Mahama started a US$20 million district hospital in Kumawu. It was almost one-third (1/3) complete when NDC lost the election 2016 on 7 December 2016 to usher in the NPP government led by Nana Akufo-Addo. Since then, the NPP-led government has abandoned the hospital, left it at the vagaries of the weather to ruin.

From the credible information available to me, the NPP believes the cost of the hospital was not only inflated but suspects some NDC government officials embezzled part of the money earmarked for the construction of the hospital hence the need for an official investigation to be conducted into it.

Be that as it may, how long is it going to take the NPP government to complete its investigations? Will it take them until thy Kingdom come to do it?

They are now into the second year of their second term in office, thus, over five years into power now, yet, they have not completed their supposed investigations. Is that not deliberate on their part to deny Kumawu district a government-built district hospital, or it is sheer incompetence on their part to be unable to conduct credible investigations within five years?

I say, the NDC-led government by former President John Dramani Mahama did actually inflate the cost to embezzle some of the money, should Kumawuman citizens who vote massively NPP all the time, be the culprits hence denied their share of the nationwide district-based hospitals as under discussion?

Are the citizens of Kumawu district not rather be seen as victims to be sympathized with? The NPP are joking!

Most Kumawu people that I had the opportunity to interact with while on holiday in Ghana in February/March 2022, have decided to vote differently come election 2024. They are not ready to continue to remain with, or vote, NPP, to be taken for fools all the time. If they are married to NPP, they are willing and ready to seek a divorce, come 2024.

I perfectly understand them. I agree with them.

To conclude, the “Agenda 111” will not be complete unless it is linked up with the completion of the now-abandoned 1/3 – way built Kumawu district hospital.

The citizens of Kumawuman love for NPP should not be taken for their stupidity!