The member of Parliament for Tamale North, Alhassan Suhuyini believes President Nana Akufo-Addo should have acknowledged the National Democratic Congress administration as having secured the funds being used to kick start the flagship agriculture programme, “Planting for Food and Jobs”.
Following the President’s State of the Nation address, the Minority in Parliament has chided the current New Patriotic Party administration for not giving due credit to the immediate past NDC government for strides in some sectors.
In the latest instance, Mr. Suhuyni disputed President Akufo-Addo’s claim that the current government secured some CAD 125 million from the Canadian government for the development of the agriculture sector.
He made this assertion in Parliament during the debate on the State of the Nation Address.
Mr. Suhuyni explained that the CAD 125 million “is the budgetary support that has been coming from the Canadian government and indeed there are records to show that the Canadian First Secretary in charge of development paid a visit to the then Agriculture Minister and announced this facility and assured that the disbursement was going to start in march this year [2017].”
“It would have hurt nothing it the President had acknowledged the contribution of the former administration,” the Tamale North MP stated.
“Planting for Food and Jobs” pilot to cost GHc 560 million
In the meantime, the “Planting for Food and Jobs” will begin with a cost GHc 560 million according to the Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, who said 200,000 farmers have already been recruited for the exercise/
The programme is expected to take off in March 2017, ahead of the new farming season, the time for the disbursement of the CAD 125 million.
He has said the policy is “going to generate GHc 1.3 billion for the participating farmers and also create 750,000 jobs”
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