Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr Frank Amoakohene, has urged successive governments to break the cycle of abandoning public projects whenever there is a change in political administration.
He said Ghana could achieve faster and more sustainable development if governments treated valuable public projects as national assets rather than initiatives belonging to particular political parties.
Dr Amoakohene made the call in Kumasi during the commissioning of the newly completed Ashanti Regional Office of the Minerals Commission.
He said the country’s development challenges were not always caused by a lack of ideas or infrastructure, but by the failure to sustain projects and institutions beyond political transitions.
“The development of Ghana cannot begin all over again after every four years or after every eight years,” he said.
The Regional Minister argued that projects such as hospitals, schools, roads, markets and public offices should not be abandoned simply because they were initiated by a previous administration.
According to him, ensuring continuity would help government derive maximum value from public investments while strengthening institutions and improving the delivery of services.
20% Common Fund allocation for abandoned projects
Dr Amoakohene commended President John Dramani Mahama for what he described as his commitment to completing inherited and abandoned projects across the country.
He said the President had directed that 20 per cent of funds received under the Common Fund be dedicated to completing abandoned or inherited projects in rural districts.
He noted that the initiative would cover projects initiated under successive governments, dating back to the administration of Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
The Regional Minister said the completion of the Minerals Commission’s regional office demonstrated the importance of such an approach.
He commended the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the leadership of the Minerals Commission for mobilising resources to complete the facility despite earlier funding challenges.
“This is what continuity in governance is about. We must take responsibility and ensure that projects that are beneficial to the people are completed,” he said.
New facility to strengthen mineral administration
Dr Amoakohene said the commissioning of the facility went beyond providing office accommodation for the Minerals Commission.
He said the project represented a broader commitment to strengthening public institutions, improving professionalism and efficiency, and bringing government services closer to citizens.
He added that the facility would support decentralisation and enhance the management and regulation of Ghana’s mineral resources, particularly in the Ashanti Region.
The Regional Minister, however, urged the Commission to prioritise regular maintenance of the facility to preserve the investment.
He stressed that public infrastructure belonged to the state and the people and therefore required collective responsibility to protect it.
Dr Amoakohene further disclosed that his office, which is located close to the new Minerals Commission facility, would monitor its maintenance and encouraged the Commission to sustain the high standards established by the new building.
