“Stop the propaganda and release GARID funds to save lives” – Oppong Nkrumah to govt

The Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has accused the Mahama administration of stalling the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project while attempting to deflect blame onto the previous Akufo-Addo government. Speaking in early July 2026, Oppong Nkrumah dismissed official claims that the current administration has spent more on flood control under GARID in two years than the New Patriotic Party did in five, labelling those figures as propaganda.

The GARID initiative, designed to bolster flood resilience in Ghana’s capital, was fully funded according to government statements, yet critical disbursements to contractors remain stalled. Oppong Nkrumah argued that the Ministry of Finance’s expenditure controls have created an artificial restraint that hinders progress, despite the availability of funds. He noted that if any misallocation had occurred under the prior administration, the current government—having been in office for one and a half years—had ample opportunity to investigate and act, rather than invoking historical allegations as a defensive shield while flood victims suffer.

He urged the administration to shift focus from political point‑scoring to urgent humanitarian action, emphasizing that thirty‑seven lives have already been lost in the flooding crisis. “People are dying. There are people whose homes they can’t live in. I spoke to somebody today who, in the midst of trying to save people, had snakes flowing through the water biting them. They need help,” he said, calling for the immediate release of funds to enable desilting, drainage works and timely payment of contractors.

His remarks echo concerns raised in an earlier analysis of Ghana’s flood‑control spending, which examined the GARID investment under the Mahama and NPP administrations here. That piece highlighted how disputed figures and competing narratives have obscured the urgent need for transparent, timely funding of mitigation works.

Oppong Nkrumah also pointed to the ongoing national flood mitigation exercise led by Brigadier General Forster Okae Yeboah, noting that such coordinated efforts cannot succeed without the financial backing that GARID is meant to provide here. Without timely disbursements, even well‑planned initiatives risk being hampered by insufficient resources.

He warned that if the government persists in framing the debate as a partisan contest, the opposition will respond by presenting evidence that administrative decisions—not external factors—have constrained the project’s progress. The call, therefore, is not merely for financial release but for a restoration of trust between state institutions and the communities they serve, especially as the rainy season intensifies and the threat of further loss of life looms.

Image Source: MYJOYONLINE