Accra, Ghana (GS) Ghana’s former Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, today officially launched his bid to lead the New Patriotic Party, NPP, as their presidential candidate for the 2024 general elections.
However, Mr. Kyerematen’s campaign launch appeared to have gotten off to a rocky start. After eulogizing his former boss, the incumbent President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for his great leadership and vision in building a solid foundation for the development of the nation for a couple of minutes, the former Trade and Industry Minister quickly started lashing out at the President.
The President, he said, “has laid a strong foundation for the socio-economic development of our country.” However, Mr. Kyerematren believes that certain critical issues facing the nation could have been handled better than maintaining the status quo.
“The President is my friend and I have competed with him in the past, but I have always worked together thereafter, although I believe there are things that could have been done differently,” the former Minister for Trade and Industry took a jab at his own government.
Mr. Kyerematen contested for the leadership of the NPP in 2007, 2010, and 2014. In all those instances he was rejected by the NPP delegates, including a singing defeat to Nana Akufo-Addo, who garnered over 90% of the votes cast by the delegates in the 2014 presidential primary election.
After taking a swipe at his former boss, Mr. Kyerematen claimed that he’s still the substantive Minister for Trade and Industry. He said though the President had accepted his letter of resignation dated January 5, 2023, with the Jubilee House issuing a statement to accept his resignation, he will still hang in at the Ministry until January 16th.
The President has already indicated in a letter issued by the Communication Director at the Jubilee House that his cousin, Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister, has taken over as a caretaker Minister for the Trade and Industry Ministry until a substantive Minister is appointed to fill the void in the Cabinet.
The former Minister for Trade and Industry, who is now officially a presidential candidate of the NPP pending the opening and filing of nomination papers, said his vision for Ghana is to build ” a superstructure on the solid foundation laid by President Akufo-Addo to bring prosperity to the nation’.
Mr. Kyerematen indicated that in spite of their differences, he and President Akufo-Addo have a shared commitment to the ideals and principles as enshrined in the vision of the founding fathers of the NPP.
As the Trade and Industry Minister who oversaw a significant portion of Ghana’s catastrophic economic hemorrhage, Mr. Kyerematen applauded the decision of the Economic Management Team and the Cabinet of which he is a member for securing an International Monetary Fund, IMF, loan package to restore confidence in the economy and bring economic activity back to pre-Covid levels.
He said the combined effects of the Covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have wreaked havoc on the Ghanaian economy, businesses, and the social life of the people.
“Ghana’s economy is still fragile, vulnerable, and susceptible to both external and domestic shocks. It is primarily a result of the fact that our economy is highly dependent on the export of commodities, with little or no value addition”.
The country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, according to the former Cabinet Minister, is projected to grow at the rate of 5.1% in the fiscal year 2023. However, this projected growth is based on the anticipated increase in prices in the export of commodities.
Mr. Kyerematen said in order to save the country from going back to the IMF for help in the future, Ghana needs a new plan to make it a more self-reliant and resilient economy to move the nation from stability and growth to transformation. He said if the NPP delegates vote him to lead the party in 2024, he would become a transformational leader, pledging to build on the foundation laid by Ghana’s successive leaders since 1965.
The NPP presidential candidate hopeful unveiled what he called the Great Transformation Plan or GTP, to give a spark to the ailing national economy. Under the so called GTP program, Mr. Kyerematen enumerated a seven (7) point plan that will form the cornerstone of his economic policy.
The GTP will involve the following:
1. Ensuring that the micro-economic fundamentals are strong to reduce high inflation, reduce unemployment, and increase wages.
2.A new revolution in the agricultural sector through Research and Development, mechanization, agronomy and improved irrigation systems.
3.Establishment of Licensed Food Distribution and Marketing platform in collaboration with operators in the private sector at the local and district levels through the implementation of a digitized food distribution online market place to connect food producers and buyers in a timely manner.
4.Strengthening of the Ghana Commodities Exchange as the marketplace for all players in the agricultural value chain.
5.Deepening the current regime for lending and financing to the agricultural sector to make it less laborious for investors to access credit in the sector.
6.Enhancing the de-regulation of the cocoa sector by deepening private sector participation in the buying, selling and export of cocoa.
7.Encourage mass citizen participation in the agricultural sector through a program called “Operation Own a Farm”.
Mr. Kyerematen also called for the diversification of the economy beyond cocoa into areas such as petro-chemicals, auto, garment and the pharmaceutical industries.
Touching on the energy crisis facing the country, the former Minister for Trade and Industry if given the chance to lead the country, he will consider introducing nuclear and hydrogen energy into Ghana’s enrgy mix to ensure reliability and to also reduce the nation’s carbon footprint to fight climate change.
