President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Friday, May 10, 2024 officially inaugurated the Prempeh I International Airport in Kumasi.
He was accompanied by Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and other government officials.
WHAT SAMMY GYAMFI WROTE?
After much fumbling, the visibly confused and nervous Minister stated among other things that, “the Kumasi Airport is now an international airport” and that this is the achievement of the ruling NPP government.
This claim by the Npp is palpably false and a desperate attempt to appropriate the legacy of the Nation Builder, H.E John Dramani Mahama. It is therefore important to set the records straight so that the unsuspecting public are not misled.
1. For the records, the Kumasi International Airport Redevelopment is a three (3) phased project started by President John Dramani Mahama.
2. Phase 1 of the project was completed in the year 2014 at a cost of $USD29 million with the construction of a new 1,981 meter runway, modern Instrument Landing Systems and the provision of Auronuatical Ground Lighting, to make night flights possible.
3. Consequently, the Kumasi Airport became an International Airport, albeit to a moderate extent, after the completion of Phase one (1) of the Kumasi International Airport Redevelopment project in the year 2014. As a matter of fact, President John Mahama flew from Vienna, Austria to Kumasi in the Presidential jet for a meeting with the Otumfour in 2015.
4. On 2nd November 2016, President Mahama secured and had Parliament approve €66.35 million($77.977 million) from Banco Santander S.A of Spain for the Phase two (2) of the project, comprising a modern one (1) million passenger a year capacity Terminal building with three Airbridges, multiple service facilities and the extension of the runway to 2,300 meters to accommodate larger aircrafts.
5. Indeed, President Mahama cut the sod for Phase two (2) of the project on 5th December, 2016, by which time the contractor was already on site.
6. In April 2019, President Akufo-Addo found and had Parliament approve € 58.9 million(69.6 million) from Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, for Phase 3 of the project whose scope of works include the expansion of the terminal building, access roads, car park and a new fire station.
7. It is therefore an indisputable fact, that Phase 1 and 2 of the Kumasi International Airport Redevelopment project are the legacies of the Nation-Builder, H.E John Dramani Mahama.
8. For emphasis, the Kumasi Airport became somewhat an international airport after the completion of phase 1 of the redevelopment project, (the core component of the project) in the year 2014, under the erstwhile NDC/Mahama government.
9. Phases 2 and 3 are being done concurrently because according to the contractor, it would save the nation $4 million. Both phases are yet to be completed and operationalized. Therefore, it cannot be the case that the Kumasi Airport was made an international airport by the ruling NPP as claimed by Asenso Boakye in the attached video.
Asenso Boakye ought to know these basic facts and save himself from further embarrassment. The fact that he struggled to mention a single major completed project of the ruling NPP in the Ashanti region, is testament to the fact that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government, that he is a part of, has failed the good people of their electoral world bank, the Ashanti Region. The NPP and the likes of Asenso Boakye must bow down their heads in shame for monumentally failing and taking for granted the good people of the Ashanti Region.
SAMMY GYAMFI ESQ.
National Communications Officer, NDC
