NPP rubbish claims by NDC on the Savelugu Rice Processing Factory and Nana Akomea

The Savelugu Constituency Communication Directorate of the ruling New Patriotic party (NPP), has rubbished the claims by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over the Savelugu Rice Processing Factory and other developmental projects within the constituency.

It would be recalled that, the opposition NDC in the Savelugu Constituency on November 21, 2022, issued a press statement debunking the claims by the former Communication Director of NPP Nana Akomea, over the Savelugu Rice Processing Factory.

It is reported that, Nana Akomea during a panel discussion on Metro TV, stated that the Savelugu Rice Processing Factory under the One District One Factory (1D1F) is operational and has since employed 118 workers.

However, the NDC in a statement has denied this claim, saying the factory has no single worker nor beneficiary. They further alleged the factory has not been connected to the national grid not talk of operating. The NDC within the Savelugu Constituency therefore dare the NPP and Nana Akomea to provide evidence to back their claims.

The NDC again also describe Diare Cassava Factory and the Botingli One Village One Dam (1V1D) as failed projects of the NPP government.

The NDC in their press statement raised series of claims including work on the ‘Agenda 111’ Hospitals has stalled, NPP not employing a single person in the Savelugu Municipal, among others.

 Meanwhile, reacting to these claims at a press briefing, the Communication Director of the NPP Abubakari Abdul Gafaru, who addressed the media, described the NDC claims as “bogus and attention-catching theatrics presser”.

He said, the Rice Plant for the Savelugu Municipal had nine (9) members working, a functioning board and twenty-seven (27) Farmer Based Organizations (FBOs) with each group comprising an average number of 25 members engaged to cultivate and harvest rice to serve as a feed to the plant.

He added that, the board of the factory has engaged over seven-hundred (700) farm workers who are currently harvesting rice at their respective farms as a means of supplying raw material to the factory.

Mr. Abdul Gafaru, whiles disputing all the claims by the NDC also stated, “the NDC should tell us one single factory that they have constructed for the good people of Savelugu since 1983 to date. They have none to show. I repeat. The record of the NDC is zero!”, he stated.

“Let me remind you that former president Mahama and the NDC unleashed the severest unpardonable disrespect towards the people of Savelugu in our history. In 2014, the incompetent ‘dead goat Pop Star’ JM came to Dipale a community in the Savelugu Municipal and cut sod for the construction of a Sugar Factory. In fact, the said factory appeared in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the NDC three consecutive years yet, neither a brick nor block “was laid in line with bringing” the factory to a fruition. That is the porous retrogressive and uninspiring record of the NDC. So, if there is any apology to be rendered to the people of Savelugu, then the NDC and JM are the kingpins”.

Read the full statement Below:

A press conference on the Savelugu Rice Processing Factory and Other Related Matters

15^th December, 2022

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

We convey our warmest greetings and felicitations to the media, the fourth estate of the realm who are in our midst to cover the press conference by the NPP in the Savelugu constituency despite the short notice.

We are gathered here today to respond to the specific issues raised by the opposition NDC on 20th November, on the Savelugu Rice Processing Factory built and constructed by the Akufo Addo led NPP government through the 1D1F flagship programme and other related matters!

At first, we felt like glossing over the bogus and knee jerk press conference, but upon a second thought, we made a decision to respond to the hurriedly bundled up attention-catching theatrics presser by the NDC because, an important edifice like the Rice processing factory for the good people of Savelugu was at center stage. By the time we are through with this press conference, the Savelugu NDC will be irredeemably brutalized beyond recognition for engaging in this petty and un-impactful exercise!

The issues raised and corresponding responses.

The claim 1

The NDC through their communication outfit alleged that the factory has no power and is therefore dysfunctional.

Response

Conveniently, the NDC refused to acknowledge the fact that power to the rice plant is nearing completion. Electricity to the plant was previously done completely but, later, the transformer was proven to be under capacity and has therefore started failing the rice factory. Frantic efforts have been made by the Savelugu Municipal authority to restore reliable and dependable power to the facility. As we speak, a new transformer has been secured and its installation is almost done. Very soon, the lighting challenge of the factory will be worked out and the processing of the rice will start in earnest after the cultivation and the harvesting is done. Currently, the offices of the factory have lights and are therefore properly in use. *Therefore*, the claim by the NDC that the rice plant is in total darkness is a palpable lie and should be *disregarded*. It is only in the warped mind and logic of the NDC that the functioning of a factory is solely limited to the processing of rice and the other relevant functioning components do not count. What a bizarre thinking! 

We again want to sound it loud and clear to the opposition NDC that the NPP as the party in power conducts our governmental business in our own terms and how they are planned and not at the beck and call of the failed celebrated NDC.

Claim 2

The NDC alleged that the factory has no single worker nor beneficiary and further dared NPP and the innocuous Hon. Nana Akomea to provide evidence of a single person as an employee of the rice facility.

Response

This claim goes to expose the NDC as unlearned cabal, hence, the gross display of non-appreciation of the factory industry. For the record and *avoidance of doubts*; the rice plant for the SAVELUGU Municipal has a nine (9) member working and functioning board  and *twenty-seven* (27) Farmer Based Organizations(FBOs) with each group comprising an average number of 25 members engaged to cultivate and harvest rice to serve as a *FEED* to the plant. On the whole, the board of the factory has engaged over seven-hundred (700) farm workers who currently are harvesting rice in their respective farms as a means of supplying continuous and uninterrupted raw material to the rice factory. I have in my hand, the further and better particulars of each farmer based organisation comprising their *names, community, membership, acreage per FBO, contact person and telephone numbers*. So, how the opposition NDC managed to say that the factory has no single soul as a worker even amazes Satan! I have in my hand the appointment letter of the board members. At this material moment, I would like to call on Mr. Tahiru Alhassan one of the board members to come upstage as a proof of the rice plant having workers. I dare submit therefore that, the NPP and Hon. Akomea are not candidates of apologies and retraction!

Let’s pause for a moment and assume that the working of the factory is in dispute and ask the NDC to tell us one single factory that they have constructed for the good people of Savelugu since 1983 to date? They have none to show! I repeat the record of the NDC is zero!

Let me remind you that former president Mahama and the NDC unleashed the severest unpardonable disrespect towards the people of Savelugu in our history. In 2014, the incompetent ‘dead goat Pop Star’ JM came to Dipale a community in the Savelugu Municipal and cut sod for the construction of a sugar factory. In fact, the said factory appeared in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the NDC three consecutive years yet, neither a brick nor block *was laid in line with bringing* the factory to a fruition. That is the porous retrogressive and uninspiring record of the NDC! So, if there is any apology to be rendered to the people of Savelugu, then the NDC and JM are the kingpins. I have in my hand the sugar factory of the NDC in the Savelugu Municipal.

On this note, the media should be reminded that the NPP government has successfully completed the construction of two factories in the Savelugu Municipal and they are, the rice processing factory and the Technology Solution Center (TSC) adjacent to each other. Around this same enclave, we have Oil Depot and Shea butter factory and they were all done by the erstwhile Kufuor administration. We are still daring the NDC to mention one single factory they have built in Savelugu.

Claim 3

The factory is the hub of lizards and glasscutters

Response

Dear media, conveniently, we have chosen this place as the venue for the press conference to demonstrate that the NDC in the Savelugu constituency is an epitome of deception and empty rhetoric. Have a critical look at the factory and the machines installed, does it look like one that is inhabited by lizards and glasscutters? No. Your experience and confession is as good as mine! This is nothing but an abundance of hustling for fame by the communication officer of Savelugu NDC!

Other claims

Claim 4

The NDC again claimed that the Diare Cassava factory and the Botingli dam are failed projects of the NPP govt.

Response

The Diare Cassava factory was an initiative by a private developer (Tikumah firm) who came to the Savelugu Municipal to explore for the viability of cassava processing plant as a usual routine undertaken by businesses and private moguls. After exploring, the private developer decided to abandon the project. So trying strenuously to transpose the failure of a private company on government is needless red herring. The Botingli dam is in the same shape and scope like the cassava factory. The Chinese private developer after the sod cutting was about to bring the heavy duty machines from China for commencement of work only for Covid-19 to hit the world. Due to the lockdowns at the height of Covid-19, human movement was restricted and international travels also suffered a shutdown. Due to the global turbulence, the private person is still struggling to come back to site with their obligation before the government will fulfill its part of the project.

So any attempt at blaming government is variously misplaced and also amount to unwarranted effusions laced with unnecessary innuendos!

Claim 5

The NDC further alleged that the NPP government has not constructed one dam in the Savelugu Municipal.

Response

Without mincing words and copiously stating, the NPP government through the one village one dam initiative, has constructed and completed more than 10 dams and some of the beneficiary villages are;

1. Dikpunni

2. Pigu

 3. Tigla

 4. Totenyili

5. Dings

6. Zoosali

7. Chahiyili etc.

The people in these communities are living testimonies. So, the claim by the opponent is braggart distortion of facts, and thus exposes them as enemies of Savelugu progress!

Let me quickly remind you about the satanic and ungodly sin that Mbe Wumbenkpang the unnoticed and unrecognized legislator of the Savelugu constituency has committed against the people of *Yong*, *Damdu*, *Chaalam* and *Nyetua*. The Hon. MP went to the people in these four communities and charged each household to contribute GH100 cedis for him to construct a dam for them. Out of this unscrupulous open thuggery, an amount of 115 million (old currency) was realized. The *legislator* at large had since bolted with the money and the dam is yet to be constructed. The deputy communication officer of the NDC for the Savelugu constituency one Mr. Adam Ibrahim is on record to have confirmed this unparliamentary conduct on Mightfm a local radio station in Savelugu during a political panel discussion. All efforts to reach out to the MP for the recovery of the money had proved futile.

 The four communities have since declared him wanted! This is the messy leadership the opposition is offering us. This is a clear case of terrorism perpetrated by Mbe Wumbenkpang and the NDC on these innocent four communities!

Claim 6

The NDC has also claimed in a sister station that work on the agenda 111 hospital has stalled.

Response

This is yet another monumental falsehood peddled by the NDC. Construction is still ongoing unabated and we can send you to the site for inspection.

Claim 7

The NDC has once more alleged that the NPP has not employed a single person in the Savelugu Municipal.

Response

This is one of the hollow and vacuous allegations that finally broke the back of the camel. For your information, the NPP government in 2017 through the limited recruitment employed teachers to the Senior High Schools and the other educational institutions across the country. In the Savelugu constituency alone, 40 people were gainfully employed and are paid through Controller and Accountant General’s Department and *Abdul Rahaman Abass* the convener of the NDC press conference was a beneficiary and is still a beneficiary out of the benevolence of the NPP govt. So, for a beneficiary of the NPP government employment opportunities to mount the high horse and made a loose and unguarded speech that the government has not employed a single person means that, his sanity took a leave of him and we are going to bring him back to his normalcy. Fred De Witt Van Amburgh once said and I quote “None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude. Gratitude is the currency that we can mint for ourselves and spend without the fear of bankruptcy.”  Has this popular maxim eluded the convener and his uninformed hirelings?

A lot of the youth in our Municipal were also engaged in the NABCO initiative, afforestation, Ghana immigration service, Ghana fire service, Ghana Police Service, Local government service and the employment avenues are inexhaustible.

Dear friends, can the opposition NDC tell us the one person who got employment under their treacherous, nebulous and incompetent eight years misrule in the Savelugu Municipal? Again, they have none to show!

In summary, the press conference by the NDC on the Savelugu rice processing factory and the other related concerns can in a capsule be described as frivolously loquacious, attention-catching theatrics and an aggregation of conjectures!

God bless our homeland Ghana.

God bless the people of Savelugu

God bless the NPP!

Thanks very much for coming.

Savelugu constituency, NPP communication Directorate

Contacts

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024 468 8360

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024 494 4545