The Head of Social Media at the Office of the President, Charles Nii Teiko Tagoe, has taken a swipe at former President John Dramani Mahama, the Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), over his commentary on the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP) being implemented by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government.

According to Nii Teiko Tagoe, the NDC flagbearer’s remarks on the DRIP show that he (Mahama) is having sleepless nights over it just like the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme.

“Clearly, the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP), aside from Free SHS, has become another headache for former President John Dramani Mahama. It is causing him sleepless nights thereby inducing his AUD habits,” he wrote on X in a post shared on Thursday, September 12, 2024.

The presidential staffer, who made these remarks while reacting to a video clip of Mahama saying that the DRIP was not being properly implemented, accused the former president of telling lies about his claim that he saw a video of equipment for the programme being driven on a road rather than being transported by payloaders.

He added that Mahama’s remarks show that he does not understand issues pertaining to the construction of roads.

He took a swipe at the former president over his suggestion that some of the equipment, including bulldozers, should be transported by payloaders.

“First of all, the former President should know that there are clear differences between motor graders, backhoes, rollers, wheel loaders, bulldozers, tipper trucks, concrete mixers, water tankers, and Lowbed Transport Trucks.

“How can anyone in his right frame of mind recommend that we secure ‘PAYLOADERS to transport BULLDOZERS within the communities? Such incessant cry-baby rants expose the knowledge deficit on his part with regards to the difference between a Payloader, earth-moving machine, and a Lowbed Transport Truck, yet had the bloated vim to boldly lie that he saw bulldozers being driven on our road in a video he did not and cannot show. JM should, with all due respect, save some of these benighted yet arrogant lies for the likes of Yayra Koku and his ilk within the NDC. Ghanaians know his incompetent self too well,” his post concludes.

What Mahama said:

The NDC flagbearer at a campaign event said that DRIP was not properly implemented by the government.

“They did not think about it (DRIP) properly, including how to even transport the machines to the districts. I saw a video of the machines being driven on the road – a roller was being driven on a tarred road to a certain district, a tipper truck was behind and a grader in front of it.

“They should have mobilised payloaders so that after the commission the payloaders would transport the machines. Now they have taken the machines to the districts, but the districts don’t have payloaders to transport the machines to the places where roads are to be constructed.”



About the DRIP:

Led by the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, DRIP will address the Ministry of National Security's concerns about poor road conditions being a significant national security threat.

At a colourful ceremony at Independence Square on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo commissioned 2,240 units of state-of-the-art road equipment, marking a major boost to the country's road infrastructure.

The equipment included a diverse fleet of trucks and equipment, including water tankers, backhoes, motor graders, rollers, tipper trucks, concrete mixers, and bulldozers.

The equipment was acquired through a Ghana-China collaboration and was distributed to all Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs).

President Akufo-Addo emphasized his government’s commitment to decentralising development and transforming road networks across Ghana while acknowledging the progress made and the need for more to be done.

President Akufo-Addo thanked China for their partnership, aiming to improve Ghanaians’ lives. He assured the nation that his government remains dedicated to improving road infrastructure, promoting connectivity, and driving prosperity.

See the post shared by the presidential staffer below:



BAI/AE

Watch the latest episode of #SayItLoud on GhanaWeb TV below:





Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.