The People's National Convention (PNC) has condemned the government's modalities for the disbursement of benefits accruing from the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative.

The party said the fund, intended to help develop infrastructure of rural communities, has now become a political tool by the ruling New Patriotic Party government to lay the ground for electoral canvassing of votes, hence the focus on the heavily populated and seeming strongholds of the party.

The leader of the PNC, Dr Edward Mahama in an interview with the GNA in Accra on Wednesday questioned the basis for concentrating the bulk of the HIPC funds in the developed and well-resourced districts contrary to the reality of poverty situation in the country as pertained in the Ghana Living Standard Survey Report.

The government last month announced the release of 117 billion cedis from the HIPC fund to metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies. Accra Metropolitan Assembly would receive 3.5 billion cedis, Kumasi 2.5 billion cedis and Sekondi Takoradi two billion cedis. Tema, New Juaben (Koforidua), Tamale and Cape Coast Municipal Assemblies would receive 1.5 billion cedis each while the remaining 103 District Assemblies receives a billion cedis each. Government expects to receive a total of 253 million dollars (1.973 trillion cedis) in debt relief this year, out of which 96 million dollars (749 billion cedis) would be lodged in the HIPC account.

Dr Mahama questioned the rationale for giving over two billion cedis each to seven metropolitans and municipal assemblies, while 103 Districts had only one billion each. He said the seven are more endowed and developed than the 103 districts. The PNC Leader urged the government to redirect the bulk of benefits to the less developed districts, which he said would help reduced the rural-urban drift and help accelerate national development.

He said the current disbursement modalities would only widen the gap between the highly developed urban cities to detriment of the rural communities. On the security front, Dr Mahama commended the government for its attempt to resource the security operatives but noted that, for the ordinary man, security is felt and not seen and urged the security apparatus to be more proactive in combating crime and other social vices.