The claims by Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa that the Minority Group thwarted the government’s plan to rebuild the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) has been refuted by Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Hon. Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong.
The Noth Tongu Member of Parliament (MP), who also serves as a Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a Facebook post that the Minority’s rejection of the idea put the government’s plan to rebuild the AICC in peril.
Mr Ablakwa said that the NDC MPs effectively defeated the government’s 2023 plans to rehabilitate the AICC at a cost of €116 million (GHS1.3 billion) in both the Foreign Affairs Committee and plenary.
However, the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, said in an exclusive interview with Akwasi Nsiah on Adom TV’s Badwam show that the government’s plan for the project is still on track.
According to Hon. Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, the publication made by Hon. Ablakwa was false and misleading. He made it clear that plans by the Foreign Affairs Ministry to demolish and rebuild the AICC are still undefeated.
“The publication by the Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member is entirely incorrect and deceptive. The government’s plan to rebuild AICC was not scuttled and could not have been scuttled by the Minority side on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Contrary to what the North Tongu MP would have made Ghanaians believe, the initiative was not likewise abandoned.
“It is important to emphasize that Parliament has approved the budget estimates and allocation for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the outlook for 2023, which includes plans to demolish and rebuild the AICC after going through the legally required processes,” Hon. Apratwum-Sarpong stated.
He said that in June 2020, the Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, which was then chaired by Hon. Frank Annoh Dompreh, Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong, as vice chairman, Okudzeto Ablakwa, as a ranking member, Hon. Okoh Vanderpuje, as a deputy ranking member, and the rest of the Committee Members, visited and inspected the AICC in order to become familiar with the challenges to the building’s structural integrity.
After the inspection, according to Hon. Apratwum-Sarpong, the committee agreed with the recommendations and findings of the team of engineers and construction experts led by Ing. Mark Addo of the Ghana Institute of Engineers, that demolition and rebuilding the structure was the best course of action.
He said that the building had to be pulled down and rebuilt because the engineering analysis revealed that 30% of the concrete had peeled off and that the structure would collapse if there was a significant buckling.
He added that copies of the engineer’s report were provided to each Committee member, including Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and that after the inspection, the Deputy Ranking Member, Okoh Vanderpuje, who spoke at the time on behalf of the Committee, strongly agreed with the report and recommendations for the building’s demolition and reconstruction.
He revealed that during recent discussions on the Ministry’s 2023 budget estimates, the Committee once again agreed with the report and expert opinion from the same group of engineers and construction professionals that the best option for the building still remains its demolition and reconstruction.
However, he said that it struck him to learn that the same committee members who took part in this exercise and approved of it are giving the impression that they have not come into contact with the report.
He, therefore, urged the public to disregard the claims made by Mr Ablakwa because, in his opinion, the facts presented do not support his position.
He was adamant that the AICC will be reconstructed in accordance with the agreements made with the Turkish investor Suma Turizm Yatirimciligi A.S, since failing to do so could have catastrophic effects on Ghanaians who use the building.