The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has accused the Mahama administration of slowing the implementation of the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project while attempting to blame the previous Akufo-Addo government for delays in flood control works.

Responding to claims by Sagnarigu MP Atta Issah that the current government had spent more on flood control under GARID in two years than the New Patriotic Party (NPP) did in five, Mr Oppong Nkrumah dismissed the figures as misleading.

He argued that the project is fully funded and that the delays are a result of expenditure controls imposed by the Ministry of Finance.

"Those days when the NDC could just tell lies and throw figures and allegations out there and confuse people are over. They have been in power for one and a half years, and they have introduced measures that have stalled the project."

Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the NPP had deliberately avoided politicising the recent floods, noting that the party's 2024 presidential candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, had called for support for affected victims rather than political attacks.

"We don't intend to do politics with this. Dr Bawumia, when he got on the ground, the first thing he said was no politics. Let's focus on helping people."

He, however, said the NPP would respond if the government continued to politicise the issue.

"If you go into partisan politics, we will show you that the evidence is clear that you have stopped the project from going on."

The former information minister also rejected claims that funds allocated under the previous administration had been misapplied.

He argued that if the government believed there had been any misuse of GARID funds, it had been in office long enough to investigate and take appropriate action instead of making allegations.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah maintained that the government had acknowledged that the project is fully funded but had failed to release money to contractors carrying out flood mitigation works.

"The money that is available, you are supposed to apply it to contractors who are working. You are not doing that because you want to constrain expenditure."

He accused the government of prioritising fiscal targets over urgent flood prevention measures and urged it to accelerate payments to contractors, desilt drains and implement measures to prevent further loss of life.

Referring to the recent floods, he said attention should be focused on providing emergency relief, including food, drinking water and mosquito nets, to displaced residents and preventing disease outbreaks in affected communities.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah appealed to the government to stop what he described as the politicisation of the floods and concentrate on responding to the disaster.

"I beg my brother Atta Issah, I beg my brother Ato Forson, and I beg the NDC government to stop the partisan politicisation and trying to justify that it was the NPP's fault. Even the World Bank report doesn't support the propaganda you are doing."