Akufo-Addo slams Mahama
The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has slammed the piecemeal approach being adopted by the Mahama administration in the conversion of polytechnics to universities, explaining that that development has left some polytechnics at a huge disadvantage.
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According to Nana Akufo-Addo, the current situation where the Cape Coast, Wa, Bolgatanga and Tamale polytechnics are yet to be converted to technical universities was not the way to go, adding that those institutions had been left destabilised by the move.
It would be recalled that earlier this year, students and lecturers of some polytechnics demonstrated against their exclusion from the list of six polytechnics to be transformed into technical universities in September 2015. That resulted in the disruption of academic activities on the campuses of these polytechnics, notably the Cape Coast Polytechnic.
In the opinion of Nana Akufo-Addo, as it has been done with so many things in the Mahama era, the implementation of that policy is fraught with a lot of dangers, stressing that it was not a fair approach to education in Ghana.
Cape Coast Polytechnic
Addressing students of the Cape Coast Polytechnic on Friday at the end of Day Two of his tour of the Central Region, he declared: “We cannot do this policy piecemeal. Either you are doing it for everybody, or you are not doing it at all. We can’t have a situation where some are picked and some are left out of the process. It is not a good idea. Let us make sure that all the polytechnics in our country, in each of the regions, have the same infrastructure and the same level of development. Then we can make the transition for all of them. But pick some and leave some out, then you are disadvantaging and destabilising the ones that you have left out.”
He stressed that with “everything that John Mahama does, there is no proper preparation and there is no proper follow- through of the idea”.
Nana Akufo-Addo assured the students of the Cape Coast Polytechnic that “when we get the chance (in 2017), we are going to make sure we do all together as one”.
His government, God willing from 2017, he said, would concentrate its energies on building the industrial sector of Ghana, while at the same time enhancing the country’s agriculture. This twin-track, he indicated, would have students from the nation’s polytechnics playing a pivotal role in the process.
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Additionally, an Akufo-Addo government will “give companies tax incentives, such as tax credits, so that we can encourage companies to employ fresh graduates, instead of having graduates sitting in the house for four, five years and doing nothing”.
“One-District-one factory” policy
As part of plans to industrialise and transform the Ghanaian economy, the 2016 presidential candidate of the NPP indicated that his government planned to establish a factory in each of the 216 districts across the country when he wins the 2016 election.
While touring the Ajumako/Enyan/Essiam, Mfantseman and Abura/Asebu/Kwamankese constituencies in the Central Region last Saturday during his five-day tour of the region, Nana Akufo-Addo explained that the setting up of those factories would not only commence the rapid industrialisation of Ghana’s economy but also create hundreds of thousands of jobs needed by the masses of unemployed Ghanaian youth.
It will be recalled that while on a tour of the Volta Region, the NPP flag bearer announced the establishment of industrial zones in the Ketu North and South districts when Ghanaians vote the NPP into office.
However, for this to happen, Nana Akufo-Addo explained that Ghana’s broken monetary and fiscal systems, currently presided over by the Mahama government, would have to be fixed.
He noted that the mess in which Ghana’s economy found itself was evident in the rising cost of living, skyrocketing levels of inflation, high bank lending/interest rates, hikes in petroleum and utility prices, among other problems, which had left Ghanaians reeling under unprecedented levels of hardships and suffering.
“The only way to free ourselves from the shackles of poverty is by fixing our monetary system. If we are to do this, our monetary system must be stable and strong. This is the only way we can empower Ghanaians. We want to help the private sector to flourish, and we will help establish factories in every district to help create jobs for the people,” he said, much to the delight of the gathering, who were predominantly youth.