The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources has rejected perceptions that it is one of, if not, the worst-performing ministries after a year of the Akufo-Addo-led government.
Sector Minister Joseph Kofi Adda says the recent issues at the Mallam market in Accra “is one example of what we have done”.
Speaking on 3FM’s Sunrise on Tuesday, Mr Adda said a lot of underground work was done last year and this year will see the dividends paid.
He stated, for instance, that his Ministry drafted four major documents including a 30-year strategic plan last year.
Some have been tabled before cabinet, he indicated.
Civil society organisations notably the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) adjudged the Sanitation Ministry as the worst-performing ministry.
The Alliance also named the Ministry as one that needed to be merged with that of Works and Housing.
Rejecting the suggestions, the Member of Parliament for Navrongo Constituency likened his performance to the construction of a house.
“You just don’t go out there and open a house and say you have a house,” he analogized. “You need to clear the place. You need to dig foundation. You need to get everything set properly before you put up the superstructure.”
He recounted how his days under former president John Agyekum Kufuor saw a youth programme when “nothing” existed by way of a National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP).
“I had to take my time to craft the [National] Youth Employment Programme to develop the guidelines and all the policies that were required to make sure this becomes a lasting programme.
He took pride in the youth programme now being a denominator that appears in many ministries’ policies.
“I crafted this. I developed the [National] Youth Employment Programme. I developed the guidelines. I got Kufuor’s cabinet to approve that and now it is existing.
“It is the same way we are trying to get the Sanitation Ministry to come to being as a permanent fixture of government.”
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana