CONGRATULATIONS TO DR. NDUOM FOR SHOWING POSITIVE RESULTS-DRIVEN LEADERSHIP

The Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) has announced that the Five-Year Ghana Programme on the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) is expected to end this month. This is according to a statement issued by Major Albert B. Don-Chebe (Rtd), Director of Communication, Millennium Development Authority (MiDA.

The Progressive People’s Party is proud to congratulate Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom for the leadership role he played in securing the $547 million grant for the people of Ghana. This he did following his assignment to the project by former President John A. Kufuor under whose Administration Ghana qualified to apply to participate in the MCA program. In a period where leadership in Ghana is in question, it is important to highlight the leadership roles played in making the grant available to Ghana. The grant was given to Ghana as a result of the technical and managerial leadership Dr. Nduom provided to the Ghana MCA Project Team (with Project Manager, Mr. Matthew Armah). The Compact was signed by Dr. Nduom on behalf of the people of Ghana on August 1, 2006 at an impressive ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC with former President Kufuor in attendance. Dr. Nduom was the Chairman of the MiDA Board of Directors put in place to ensure that goals and objectives of the Ghana MCA program are met.

Projects undertaken by MiDA to be inaugurated include feeder roads, public packhouse, and a school all in the Akwapim South Municipality. Others are a RoRo ferry at Akosombo and a Perishable Cargo Centre, at the Kotoka International Airport. The major showcase project to be inaugurated is the six-lane, eye-catching, 14.1 kilometre Tetteh Quarshie- Mallam N1 highway project at Apenkwa.

It is also appropriate to recall that several years ago, President Dwight Eisenhower and our first President Kwame Nkrumah signed the agreement that made possible, the Volta River Project. It is this project that gave birth to the Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam that formed the basis for production of aluminium and industrialization in Ghana.

We wish to take advantage of this opportunity to bring to the attention of Ghanaians, portions of a Press Release issued by Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom in 2009:

“MiDA though funded mostly by a foreign government in its initial program was designed by Ghanaian professionals – experts in agriculture, infrastructure, finance, education, environmental protection, law, etc. The MiDA Act included provisions that make it possible for the Authority to be used to implement other development programmes. The Act made room for other sources of funding to be sought to implement non-MCA projects in other parts of the country.

MiDA has a well-funded administrative organization and has been able to gather professionals who can be used on non-MCA projects. It also has a good number of policies and procedures in areas such as credit, procurement, road construction, agriculture that can be applied to other projects. The experience gained by gathering government officials at the district and national levels to serve on a Board of Directors along with private sector representatives and bringing together experts from Ministries of Finance & Economic Planning, Education, Energy, Agriculture, Roads and Highways and others is too valuable to push aside.

My suggestion for the consideration of the experts assisting the Mills Administration to implement SADA is to consider the experience of MiDA and learn some lessons from its project implementation activities. Serious consideration should be given to using the administrative capacity of MiDA for the implementation of SADA’s projects. There is more there than is publicly known. This is one case where the country can be saved from the unnecessary re-invention of what already exists.”

Such is the mark of a leader with the supreme interest of the nation at heart. Once again, congratulations to all involved in securing and implementing this significant grant and projects.

Richmond Keelson, Director of Communications