Ghana: NPP Not Against $3b Chinese Loan – MP

Hon. Kennedy Agyepong, MP

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) of Ghana is not necessarily against the $3 billion loan being con- tracted bythe government of Ghana from China. Rather, the NPP is vehe- mently opposed to the loan because of the spin the ruling government has put on it. This pronouncement was made by Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, (NPP, Assin North) a Member of Parliament (MP) in a chit chat session with this newspaper January 8, 2012 in New Jersey. He accused the ruling National Demo- cratic Convention (NDC) of exag- gerating fiscal figures on almost all contracted loans to dupe the nation for their own parochial and party in- terests. He cited the Takoradi Water Project that was approved under the NPP government for $86 million but has been revised (under the NDC) to $156 million and the Akosombo Transportation venture where gov- ernment now estimates the project between $150 and $500 million. “It is unfortunate because we thought with all the so-called experts why couldn’t they come up with a con- crete figure? And that has been the case with all the figures cited. We need the government to utilize the money properly so that Ghanaians would benefit.

With these exagger- ated figures we don’t think it is going to help the ordinary citizen.” he bemoaned. He said the Chinese government is hesitant to approve the loan until it is convinced that “value for money” is financially and economically sound on the loan. The maverick MP was quick to point out that the loan was initiated under the Kufour Administration and not the ruling government. He said it was Super Care Company (a joint venture between himself and Chinese consortium) that engineered financing the Bui Dam project and facilitated the visit of China’s Premier with the China Development Bank to Ghana.

Regarding the $3 billion Chinese loan the MP said he has personally warned Crown Agents not to approve the figures “because they would lose their money whenever there is any change in government”. The one-time U.S. based MP wondered aloud the rationale behind government’s intention to guarantee a loan for Ghana Gas, a private entity. He opined that government should come clean if it has any joint partnership with Ghana Gas. Dr. Sipa Yankey a quondam cabinet member in the ruling government heads Ghana Gas.

Posted by admin on Jan 17 2012. Filed under top stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry