Kwabena Mintah Akandoh and Rt. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante
Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the ranking member on the Health Committee in Parliament, has denied claims that the Minority in Parliament is opposed to President Akufo-Addo’s Agenda 111.
According to him, the minority MPs are only asking legitimate questions which will make the government accountable to Ghanaians.
He said, it is the duty of the MPs to put government’s policies like Agenda 111 under scrutiny, especially when they have noticed some inconsistencies that need to be highlighted.
Akandoh told Joy FM on Friday, September 3 that, “I have not heard anybody who is opposed to the construction of 111 hospitals. In any case, we have always made a point that there is even a need, if you do not even add more, to complete the abandoned hospitals in this country.
“So I, and on behalf of the Minority, we are in no way opposed to the construction of more hospitals. But as a government, if indeed you accept democracy, irrespective of how nice or ambitious a policy is, we would have to subject it to scrutiny, and when we do so you are insulting us?”
Kwabena Mintah Akandoh was responding to some remarks by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, who described critics of the Agenda 111 project as witches who seek to derail the government’s efforts.
Rt. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante who also doubles as the Chairman of the Christian Council, rallied support for the initiative to improve healthcare delivery to the populace and is not enthused by the manner in which the initiative is being criticised.
But Akandoh said Rt. Rev. Prof. Mante does not fully understand why people are scrutinising and describing critics as witches or wizards do not speak well of a man of God.
“It is not any private individual who is going to build hospitals for this country, it is the money of you and I that is going to be used, and therefore we have every right to raise legitimate questions. Just like he himself says if they [government] are not able to build those hospitals, he will even lead the criticism.
“So, if there are any legitimate questions, I think that it is our right to raise those questions – especially when before the commencement of the programme, some monies have been spent and we don’t know where those monies went to,” he noted. “Well, the rate at which people, especially Ghanaians, are losing trust and confidence in some men of God is alarming. So if some of them begin to talk this way, it only confirms the mistrust the people have in some men of God.
“So I will plead with our clergy to exercise restraint when they are commenting on issues of this nature. They have the right to comment, but they are in unique positions and therefore they should not be seen stepping on toes unnecessarily,” the Juaboso MP stressed.