The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Greater Accra region has called on the Akufo-Addo-led government to account for the substantial funds approved for the Greater Accra Resilience Integrated Development Project (GARID). 

This project, aimed at mitigating perennial flooding in Accra, was funded by a USD200 million World Bank loan approved in 2019 and an additional USD150 million approved just this month.

Accra is currently experiencing severe flooding, resulting in significant loss of life and property hence the NDC has raised concerns about the misuse of funds initially allocated to the GARID project. 

According to the NDC, investigations revealed that only USD8 million of the USD200 million was utilised, and this was merely as a mobilisation fund for contractors. 

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Works and Housing, upon visiting four project sites, found minimal preliminary work done, leaving the sites in worse condition than before.

A statement released by the NDC in Greater Accra, signed by its Regional Communications Officer, Jerry Johnson, questioned why the GARID funds were diverted to the COVID Fund, despite the influx of financial support from international bodies like the IMF and the World Bank specifically for pandemic relief. 

“There is absolutely no justification in diverting the money into the fund and we find the claim as one of NPP's spurious excuses for their incompetence and insensitivity to the plight of the Ghanaian people,” the Greater Accra NDC asserted.

It also highlighted unfulfilled promises made by President Akufo-Addo, who pledged in 2017 to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa by the end of his first term, a promise reiterated in his 2020 State of the Nation address. Given the current dire flood situation, the NDC contends that these promises were dishonest.

The NDC, therefore, stressed that it has joined the people of Ghana in demanding a full investigation by Parliament into the allocation and application of the GARID funds while indicating its belief in “prioritising the safety and security of the people of Greater Accra just as we do for other regions in Ghana.”