
Audio By Carbonatix
Ranking Member on Parliament's Economy and Development Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, says a recent World Bank implementation report on the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project clears the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration of allegations that project funds were misapplied.
Speaking on The Pulse on JoyNews, Mr Oppong Nkrumah argued that the report contradicts claims made by the then-opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that funds earmarked for the flood mitigation project had been misused.
"There are three major things that you will find when you read the World Bank report," he said.
"The World Bank report settles the matter that this claim by the then NDC opposition that GARID monies had been misapplied... is false."
According to him, the report confirms that the project's funds remain intact and does not support allegations that financial mismanagement under the previous administration stalled implementation.
"The funds are intact," he stressed, describing the earlier allegations as "political propaganda."
Mr Oppong Nkrumah also cited the World Bank's decision to downgrade GARID's implementation rating, arguing that the report attributes the slowdown to expenditure controls introduced by the current government.
"The World Bank report now says that disinvestment rather is what has delayed implementation and so they have... downgraded the speed of implementation," he said.
He argued that the report points to expenditure bottlenecks created under the government's public financial management system, which he said have delayed the release of funds for ongoing works.
"The third point that the World Bank report is making is that what the government has chosen to do is to prioritise nice figures over people's livelihoods," he said.
According to him, efforts to restrain public expenditure have affected the timely release of funds needed for flood mitigation infrastructure, despite financing being available.
His comments follow the World Bank's latest implementation update on the GARID Project, published in May 2026, which downgraded the project's implementation rating from Moderately Satisfactory to Moderately Unsatisfactory.
The report cited fiscal restrictions introduced by Ghana's Ministry of Finance as a key factor slowing project implementation, despite available financing, and pointed to expenditure bottlenecks that delayed payments for project activities.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah made the remarks as Ghana continues to grapple with the aftermath of the recent floods that affected parts of Greater Accra and claimed several lives.
"While our hearts go out to... persons who have died and thousands who have lost property... if the NDC wants to play partisan politics, the World Bank report is indicting them on how they have handled these very important national projects," he said.
The government has not yet publicly responded to Mr Oppong Nkrumah's interpretation of the World Bank's findings.
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