“My name is Papa Kwesi Nduom, born at Elmina in the Central Region specifically, from Teterkessim. My grandparents are from and lived in Elmina, Senya Breku, Gomoa Dago and Tarkwa.
My parents were both primary school teachers. I am where I am today by the grace of God and through the diligence of my parents and hard work. I am a Roman Catholic. I respect other religions but mine is Christianity. My life has been guided by my faith, family values and public service.
I know that many Ghanaians believe it is God who determines who should lead this nation. Therefore, before I go any further, I wish to pray to God Almighty, the Maker of Heaven and Earth to touch the hearts and minds of all Ghanaians, give them life, good health as I continue to pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the Angels and Saints to make it possible for the people to vote for me Papa Kwesi Nduom on December 7th to become the next President of the Republic of Ghana.”
These were the opening statement of Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, flagbearer of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) when he took his turn at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation’s (GBC’s) Presidential Encounter Series.
Dr Nduom, going by the format of the GBC programme, told the people of Ghana what the nation will gain by voting into office a PPP administration led by him, Papa Kwesi Nduom, in exactly 20 minutes.
“Our focus is different, it is job creation based on competent, incorruptible leadership and no political party has been so direct at this,” he said.
The PPP’s presidential candidate whose presentation was based on the party’s policy document said,”The party I lead, the PPP, is a forward-looking, inclusive political party dedicated to making our nation, Ghana, great and strong and its people prosperous. We believe in ‘Ghana first; everyone else second.”
Among the seven candidates contesting the presidential election on December 7, Dr Nduom said he is the most dependable and “the one with the right team to lead Ghana to attain its development goals”.
He said Ghanaians would not regret voting for the PPP, as he would implement non-negotiable, result-oriented policies that would bring the economy back on its feet, adding that the current economic challenges stalling the country’s growth were cumulative results of bad leadership.
“To be direct, Ghanaians have wasted their votes on leadership who have disappointed them. On December 7th, the people have another chance to vote for inclusiveness, unity, competence, practical experience and incorruptible leadership by voting for Papa Kwesi Nduom. That will be a vote which will bring many, many blessings to our nation,” he stated.
Dr Nduom mentioned that more than half of the problems being faced by Ghana had to do with the lack of job opportunities for the youth, adding that his government would make job creation its topmost priority.
According to Dr Nduom, the PPP party intends to implement policies in the areas of sustainable job creation, effective healthcare delivery through the prevention of diseases, compulsory universal education, proper agricultural and food security initiatives and support for local entrepreneurs.
He expressed his party’s desire to create jobs for millions of Ghanaians who are unemployed.
Jobs In Agriculture
Touching on the PPP’s policy for the agricultural sector, Mr Nduom pointed out that his party would make the sector vibrant by providing a ready market for farming produce.
He said PPP when elected into office come December 7, 2016 will use the state’s purchasing power to ensure that the labour of farmers and fishermen are not in vain.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Groupe
Nduom (GN), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, has
officially cut sod for the construction of a
100-tonne rice milling factory
“One way to provide a ready market is to ensure that all basic schools on the school-feeding programme, as well as senior high schools, patronise strictly made-in-Ghana commodities for cooking,” he said.
Another way of ensuring a robust agricultural sector, he said, will be the construction of good roads that link farms to market centres to ensure that farmers are able to transport their produce for sale easily.
He said instead of politicians giving out outboard motors and premix fuel, the PPP will introduce and implement policies that yield aquatic abundance.
He also touched on how his administration plans to address the high importation of rice, saying that he would encourage rice farming and milling in Ghana, so that in four years “we stop the importation of rice — we will save more than $1.2 billion we spend every year to import rice.”
“This alone will mean one million well-paid jobs in virtually all the 10 regions. I know that this can be done because my company, Group Nduom, has invested in a rice mill at Worawora in the Volta Region and is building a new one at Assin Bereku in the Central Region,” he added.
Touching on other cash crops, Dr Nduom said there will be massive investment and support for cashew growers and local processing in the Brong Ahafo, Central and other regions – especially in towns such as Sampa, Wenchi, Tuobodom.
“We will invest in fruit processing factories in the Central, Western, Eastern and Volta regions and promote the export of their output. We will promote the large scale cultivation and processing of palm oil to feed existing factories in Ghana and for export,” he added.
The PPP’s presidential candidate also stated that his party will invest in the processing of yam into international quality chips for domestic consumption and export in the Brong Ahafo and Northern regions.
Jobs in Oil and Gas/ Tourism
Concerning the oil and gas sector in the Western Region, Dr Nduom said he would ensure the development of a petro-chemical industry and the movement of the headquarters of oil and gas producers, including the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), to that region.
That, he said, will make the regions with specific natural resources direct beneficiaries from the companies that made use of their resources.
He said his government would also develop the Kakum National Park, the forts and castles along the coast and the Mole National Park as major international tourist attractions and destinations, with nearby airports and enabling infrastructure that would not only make them accessible but also attractive to tourists.
“My leadership will take advantage of the country’s rich resources to build a better economy in which every Ghanaian will have the opportunity to achieve his or her ambitions,” he said.
Corruption/ Public Sector Reforms
Speaking on what the PPP government would do to tackle corruption in the country, Dr Nduom said his government will employ constitutional reforms to elect district, municipal and metropolitan chief executives.
“We will create a strong independent public prosecutor which will be separated from the Attorneys General Department to root out government corruption.
He said his government would make parliament truly independent by ensuring that a member of parliament (MP) cannot serve as a minister of state at the same time.
“The PPP will work with parliament to pass the Right to Information Bill to bring transparency and encourage accountability in government,” he added.
Dr Nduom who was a Minister of Public Sector Reforms in the Kufour administration said when elected as Ghana’s president, he will strengthen state institutions, make government efficient and raise revenue to be able to pay public servants well to motivate them to facilitate the work of the private sector and Ghanaian society in general.
“We will create a Ministry of Public Service to lead the task of continuous reform and modernization of state institutions. Reduce the number of ministers of state to 40 and rely on professional civil and local servants to ensure efficient administration. We will abolish the position of regional minister,” he added.
Health/ Education
The issue of health has been in the news as the health sector until a few weeks ago was in disarray over conditions of service for health personnel and logistics to care for patients.
Dr Nduom said his government would not focus on the curing of diseases which is costing the country millions of cedis every year, but rather on disease prevention.
“We will ensure policies for a cleaner environment free from preventable diseases like malaria, cholera, pneumococcal meningitis and guinea worm are implemented.”
On education, Dr Nduom said his government will ensure compulsory and universal education for every Ghanaian child while ensuring free and compulsory education in public schools from kindergarten to senior (including ICT training).
“We will deploy an ‘Education Police’ to enforce the compulsory aspect of our policy. An integral part of this objective will be to significantly increase vocational training so that all school leavers gain employable skills,” he said.
Energy
The energy sector is another area that has been a challenge for government, especially in terms of power generation, but Dr Nduom says the energy problem is not about power generation but the current government’s inability to pay its debts to the power generation and distribution companies.
He, however, added that his government will prioritise the energy sector by implementing solutions to meet domestic needs for industry and residential use.
“To enable us achieve this objective, we will provide tax incentives to enable development of alternative sources of fuel and power – bio fuels and solar. Aim to ensure that the contribution from renewable sources of energy reaches in a decade, a minimum of 10 percent of what we need. Provide adequate funding to deal with generation, transmission and distribution challenges,” he said.
The PPP flagbearer also spoke about the development of sports, technology, domestic and women’s enterprise that are critical to the total development of the country.
‘Vote for PPP’
In conclusion, Dr Nduom said it is clear that the PPP’s brand of politics is unique, exceptional and just what Ghanaians need to give them hope and confidence.
“We believe in Ghanaian excellence. We believe in Ghanaian prosperity. We believe in all of the Ghanaian people. Our pact with you is that, once elected, we will fight for dramatically accelerated developmental progress.”
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri