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National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer John Dramani Mahama has refuted claims that, when he was president in 2014, guinea fowls operated by the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) were flown to Burkina Faso.
Recall that in 2014, news of several guinea fowls under the scheme migrating to neighboring Burkina Faso made headlines, including the administration of SADA.
At a press conference in Bolgatanga to wrap up his Upper East Region tour, the former President refuted the accusations made against him.
Contrary to common opinion, which states that bird rearing should take place in an enclosed space, Mahama clarified that the procedure really involved incubation before the day-old chicks were given to farmers to continue rearing.
He held the media responsible for the widespread coverage of the initiative without conducting the essential due diligence.
“No guinea fowl flew to Burkina Faso. Guinea fowls are not migratory birds and the project was not for you to come and see thousands of guinea fowls in one place. It was supposed to incubate the eggs and give the guinea fowls’ day-old chicks to farmers.
“And so somebody came and asked the watchman, ‘where are the guinea fowls? And the watchman said, they go to Burkina Faso, they will come back in the rainy season.’ The media went and published it. And after that, there are people who believe that there were some guinea fowls that flew to Burkina Faso. So that project died. But I think it is a project we can look at again.”
According to a complex plan, the mature guinea fowl were to be processed in a facility and then shipped to market locations all throughout the nation, the former President said.
“There was supposed to be a processing plant so that the guinea fowls would be brought off the households and processed. And they would put them in frozen trucks to send them down to the south to the market. Unfortunately, the project ran into issues. The media criticised it, and they came and said the guinea fowls had flown to Burkina Faso.”
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
