Why Mahama Must Be Given A Second Chance As President? – Part 3

In this edition I want to continue to chronicle some of the achievements of President John Dramani Mahama.

Job creation/Social Intervention

The Mahama-led administration undertook many interventions to help create employment and also relief the poor and vulnerable from extreme hardship. Examples of these interventions are the building of a fertilizer factory at Shama, Ceramics and Tiles factory in the Western Region, rehabilitation of the Kumasi Shoe factory in the Ashanti Region

Komenda Sugar Factory, Fish Processing Factory in Elmina and a Shea nut processing factory in the North. His government also gave GHC51 million to support pharmaceutical manufacturers to expand and create more jobs.

There are more: he built the Kajetia Market Complex in Kumasi, which is the most beautiful market in West Africa, the Tamale Market Complex, the Kotokuraba Market in Cape Coast among others.

Furthermore, many social protection programmes were enhanced and expanded by his administration to help the poor. Some of these are the School Feeding Programme, the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) and the Eban card.

Agriculture

Achievement in this area are as follows:

1. Over 60% increase in producer price of cocoa.
2. Grain storage facilities and the creation of boreholes for agricultural purposes.
3. Agricultural mechanisation service centres were established.
4. Revival of cotton farming in Northern Ghana.
5. Rehabilitation of many irrigation dams in the Greater Accra, Volta, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions.
6. Ghana saw a significant surge in the production of cocoa under Mahama, from 680,000 tonnes to 1 million tonnes.

Sports

In line with his government’s determination to develop sports, the following were achieved:

1. The construction of 15,000-seater capacity Cape Coast Stadium.
2. Progressive prominence of Ghanaian sportswomen and men at the African Youth Games in Gaborone, Botswana in 2014, the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China in 2014, the Commonwealth Youth Games in Apia, Samoa in 2015, and the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo in 2015.

Housing

Mahama’s government continued to invest heavily in the area of housing in a bid to bridge the housing deficit. An aggressive affordable housing programme was rolled out to provide more Ghanaian families in the lower to the middle-income bracket with decent homes. The projects included:

1. The Affordable Housing Project at Saglemi in the Ningo-Prampram District of the Greater Accra Region.
2. “Nyame dua” Estates Under a PPP arrangement, 95 acres of land at Kpone was allocated for the construction of 5,000 affordable housing units, branded “Nyame Dua” Estates.
3. Security Services Housing Scheme Phases 1 and 2 to provide 168 decent housing units in Tema were completed.
4. Keta Sea Defence Resettlement Housing Scheme.
5. Regeneration Projects (SHC Gardens) at Lartebiokorshie, Kaneshie, Kanda and North Effiakuma.
6. New Labadi Villas Housing Project.
7. The Ghana Armed Forces housing project.
8. Police Housing Project through a Public-Private Partnership at Cantonments in Accra.
9. Affordable Housing units started in 2006 in five regions namely, Greater Accra, Ashanti, Northern, Upper West and Eastern were continued.