The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has commissioned the $55.50 million Wa Water Project, at Jambusie, on Monday, 2nd October, 2017, at the commencement of his 2-day tour of the Upper West Region.
The Water Project, which was constructed with a facility from the Korean Exim Bank, will supply 3.3 million gallons of water per day to the 100,705 residents of Wa.
Commissioning the Project, President Akufo-Addo described it as a very happy day for him, especially as the project was began “at the time of the great Ghanaian leader, John Agyekum Kufuor.”
The President noted that “it was in his (President Kufuor’s) time that the financing for this project was secured, as far back as 2008. But, unfortunately, after he left [office in 2008], it took five years under the NDC successor governments before the construction of the project began.”
President Akufo-Addo added that “God has his own way of doing things. A project that was begun by Kufuor is going to be commissioned by Akufo-Addo. That is the way the Almighty works.”
Assuring residents of the Upper West Region, and by extension the entire Ghanaian population of more water projects, President Akufo-Addo noted that there are various projects that are in the pipeline, of which this (Wa Water Project) is the first, and stressed that his government, as contained in the 2016 Manifesto of the New Patriotic Party, would pursue a “Water For All agenda”, which will ensure that that every Ghanaian has access to potable water.
“We are determined to realise all the commitments that we made to the people of Ghana before they gave us their vote. This is because we want the people of Ghana to understand that not all politicians are liars, and that not all politicians make promises just to get the vote. But there are some who make promises and commitments because, they know that if you give them the chance, they can do it,” he said.
Making reference to the Free Senior High School Policy, which he launched on the 12th September, 2017, President Akufo-Addo stated that “they told me I couldn’t do the Free SHS, and that I was lying to the people of Ghana, and that it was an election gimmick. Well, the gimmick is out today. We can all see the gimmick.”
President Akufo-Addo conveyed the gratitude of government and the people of the Upper West Region to the Korean government for the assistance given for the completion of the project.
“We would wish that we could do these things with our own money, but for the time being, we are still having to depend on our friends for their support. Korea is one of our best friends, and is one of the friends that we would want to continue to have excellent relationships with.
For myself, personally, I am inspired by the development of Korea, from how they came out from conditions just like ourselves and, are, today, one of the leading economies of the world. They have done a great job that we want to duplicate in Ghana”, he said.
President Akufo-Addo urged residents of Wa to “look after the project and make sure you use the water with care. Turn off the taps [when not in use], continue to conserve water, and settle the little bills that would come, so that the project would continue to run and provide you with the service.”
