The Upper East Regional branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on residents to hold the New Patriotic Party (NPP) responsible for its unfulfilled promises.

The NDC is also urging the residents to vote the government out in 2024. 

Mr Abdallah Jonathan Salifu, Regional Communications Officer of the NDC who made the call in a statement copied to the media in Bolgatanga, said the NPP, both in opposition and in government in 2016 and 2020, made “lofty promises” to the people. 

According to the NDC, Ghanaians needed, “the development and results-oriented NDC to take over the reins of government to halt the systematic destruction of the country and redirect it to the path of progress and posterity for all.” 

He said it was based on their promises that the NPP had the mandate of the people to form the government for two terms. 

However, “in the lead up to the 2016 elections, NPP promised the region a Police Hospital, a factory in each of the 15 Districts in the region, one warehouse per district and 350 new Senior High Schools in the country.” 

According to the statement the “NPP government also promised to provide a million dollar each for all 275 constituencies, build small scale irrigation dams for purposes of dry season farming in all villages in particular, and the entire northern part of the country,” and said that the government failed to show commitment to these ‘ill-thought-out and poorly designed promises as their first tenure came to pass with little or no evidence of work on same.  

Mr Abdallah indicated that ongoing projects including the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulmakom road, phase two of the Regional Hospital, Community Day Schools (E-Blocks) at Yameriga in the Talensi District, Azee Namoo in Bongo District and Sapeliga in the Bawku West District under the NDC government were stalled. 

The Tamni Dam at Garu, the airport project, rural electrification projects among others that were ongoing in districts across the region, intended to connect all villages to the National Grid to meet United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on energy for all by 2030 have not been achieved, Mr Abdallah stated. 

“After needlessly stalling work for nearly two years in the name of audit and pledging to start work on the regional airport at Sherigu in Bolgatanga Municipality, to continue road works on Chuchuliga-Chiana, construct the Bolga-Sherigu-Naaga road, build 60-bed capacity District hospitals at Bolga-East, Nabdam, Binduri, Pusiga, Garu, Tempane, Builsa South and Kassena-Nankana west districts in what they christened Agenda 111, the NPP has failed.” 

“These hospitals were to be completed in 18 months, however, none of Agenda 111 projects have been completed and plans for them conspicuously missing in the 2023 budget,” he said. 

Mr Salifu recalled the NPP government's promise to build the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam to halt perennial flooding, and to provide 60 megawatts of hydro power to the national grid, build 120 affordable housing units at Pusu-Namongo, and complete the BBP road by end of 2020 which he said was not achieved. 

He said the NDC visited various project sites and monitored developments in the roads, education, health, agriculture, electricity, and other sectors in the region which the “only viable and credible opposition party, feels obliged to call the Nana Addo-Bawumia government out for the lack of commitment in staying true to development needs of the region. 

“We in the NDC in the region deem this obvious lack of interest in the development of the Upper East Region by this current NPP government unacceptable,” he said.