Response To Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum’s Uninformed Swipe-Taking At Professor Atta Mills

The Office of NDC Leader, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, is not too surprised at the attempt by CPP flagbearer, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, per a publication in today’s edition of The Chronicle Newspaper, to use the NDC and its Leader as convenient punching bags.

For a person who spent 6+ years going against the collective will of the CPP, and serving in the Kufuor led NPP government that has worsened the living conditions of Ghanaians, we are not surprised that in wanting to make himself relevant in the political equation, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom chooses to expose his gross ignorance of the development path of the Central Region, and taking an uninformed swipe at Professor John Evans Atta Mills.

As it is very clear that Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum is unaware of it, the Office of the NDC Leader wishes to bring it to his attention that when Professor Atta Mills took the oath of office as Vice President, he swore to be Vice President of Ghana, and not Vice President of the Central Region.

As such, as Head of the Economic Management Team, Vice President Atta Mills focused on an equitable distribution of the nation’s resources and was not interested in a tunnel-vision style of leadership pivoted around a concept of nepotism that could have created unnecessary tension and in an extreme case, led to civil strife.

However, the Office of the NDC Leader takes this opportunity to educate Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum on the extent to which, inter alia, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, as Vice President, made sure that the Central Region had its fair share of the national cake.

It is a fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that, during the period that Professor Atta Mills served as Vice President, Cape Coast, like some other regional capitals, got a Regional Hospital.

It is a fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that, during the period that Professor Atta Mills served as Vice President, and out of the Atta Mills sponsored GETFUND, the Cape Coast University got two new halls of residence.

It is a fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that, the Atta Mills sponsored GETFUND gave the Cape Coast Polytechnic, two new halls of residence, a new administration block, constructed roads within the polytechnic, and was in the process of putting up a four story lecture hall before the NPP took over the reins of government.

It is a fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that, the Brimsu Water Expansion project was undertaken during the period that Professor Atta Mills served as Vice President of Ghana.

It is a fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that, the Ekumfi electrification project was undertaken during the period that Professor Atta Mills served as Vice President of Ghana.

It is a fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that, the whole of the KEEA (where Ndoum is the current MP) Traditional Area’s electrification project was undertaken during the period that Professor Atta Mills served as Vice President of Ghana.

It is a fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that, the Breman Essikuma electrification project was undertaken during the period that Professor Atta Mills served as Vice President of Ghana.

It is a fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that, the Elmina market project was undertaken during the time of Dr. Ato Quarshie, NDC MP, and during the time that Professor Atta Mills served as Vice President of Ghana.

It is fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that, the Elmina Beach Hotel, a four star hotel, was built during the time that Professor Atta Mills served as Vice President of Ghana.

It is a fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that during the time of Professor Atta Mills as Vice President, a modern bridge was constructed over the River Prah at Twifo Praso.

It is a fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that, the Mankesim market was constructed under the watch of Professor Atta Mills as Vice President of Ghana.

It is fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that, under the watch of Professor Atta Mills as Vice President, Construction Pioneers (CP), asphalted major roads in Cape Coat, including, Aggrey Junction to Petro Roundabout; Pedu Junction to Bakano Roundabout; 3rd Ridge Junction to Nkamfua; and the Anafo/Idan/Amanful/Brofoyedu road, which after colonial times, had never seen any rehabilitation.

It is a fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that, the Winneba water system was overhauled during the period of the NDC and that today, it is one of the best in the country.

It is a fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that, the major roads in the Winneba township were tarred during the period of the NDC, and are still in good shape.

It is a fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that, the Winneba Telephone Exchange system was set up by the NDC.

It is a fact, which cannot be disputed by the ignorance of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, that, the Winneba University was established during the time of the NDC.

For a fact, Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum knows very little about the history of his home region, Central Region, and knows very little about the history of his KEEA constituency, hence the mockery he is making of his ignorance.

We are not surprised that Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, having been part of the NPP government that has turned the clock of progress backwards and worsened the living standards of the ordinary Ghanaian to the extent that eradicated diseases like the guinea worm disease and yaws are rearing their ugly heads, would be clinging on to straws as part of his unnoticeable achievements.

What happened to Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum’s promise, as Energy Minister, to add 300 megawatts of power to the country’s energy stock?

We find it amusing that the restoration of the Osagyefo Barge at Effaso, without it adding a single kilowatt of power to the country’s energy stock, is something that Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum will be touting as one of his achievements.

Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, for reasons best known to him, conveniently forgets that the Osagyefo Barge was the result of the thinking of the NDC and its operatives.

It is not surprising that with the likes of Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum having been put in charge of the Energy Ministry, Ghana went through a torrid energy crisis lasting more than a year.

Indeed, we are still not out of the crisis as Ghanaians continue to live with countless power outages even when we are being told that the crisis is over.

If it is Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom’s desire to be given the mandate to be a Leader of only a section of this country, his narrow mindset has been exposed and it will not be surprising, after the declaration of results in December, to notice that not too many Ghanaians would have looked in his direction.

The Office of Professor John Evans Atta Mills hopes that with what we have put out, Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum will endeavour to school himself on issues regarding the stewardship of Professor Atta Mills as Vice President of Ghana before making public his thoughts, so as not make a mockery of himself via his gross ignorance of such matters.