GFP plans pension for farmers above 40
Madam Akua Donkor’s Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) intends to introduce a special pension scheme for farmers above 40 should the party be elected into power in the December 7 general election.
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According to the party, farmers are the backbone of the country and, therefore, they need to be accorded courtesies sponsored by the state in their old age.
The Founder of the GFP, Madam Donkor, made this known when the Daily Graphic paid an unannounced visit to the national headquarters of the party at Kabu, near Adawso in the Eastern Region, about 12 minutes’ drive from Koforidua, the regional capital.
Office
In the office at the time of the visit were three workers, including Madam Donkor’s driver.
The Daily Graphic team was led by the Editor, Mr Ransford Tetteh, and the Political Editor, Mr Kobby Asmah.
Madam Donkor expressed delight at the visit, amid her usual laughter and response to her party slogan – Eny no no? – [Is that not it?]
She conducted the Daily Graphic team round her single-room national office and described how some arsonists had recently attacked and set the office ablaze.
The arsonists allegedly broke the louvre blades from behind, poured petrol into the room and set fire to it, she said.
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“It was not easy for me, as everything, including computers, furniture, campaign materials and many other party paraphernalia which were to be distributed to the regions and constituencies, were all burnt. I nearly jumped into the fire,” she said.
Watch below, a video of the visit to GFP's headquarters
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Running mate
Asked when she was going to name her running mate, considering that the December 7 elections were close, Madam Donkor said: “I have asked them [party financiers] to select one for me because I don’t want to personally select someone who may not be good.”
When asked who among the leading presidential aspirants she would prefer in 2016, she said she would vote for her son, John Mahama.
According to her, her vote would be for the NDC because President Mahama was undertaking numerous development projects which were not yet completed, for which reason he should be given another chance to continue with them, since a new President might not continue with the President’s good works.
“So let us help him [Mahama] to finish so that when he leaves, then I can take over from there,” she said.
Manifesto
On when her manifesto was going to be made public, Madam Donkor, who spoke in Twi, said it was complete and gave the Daily Graphic highlights of its contents.
Even though she opted to make a copy available to the team and asked her driver to bring a copy from her Mitsubishi pickup which was parked outside, the driver returned and said there was none in the vehicle.
Nonetheless, she explained the highlights were on her fingertips and jumped into recounting what the manifesto contained.
Apart from the pension scheme for farmers which was high on her agenda, the GFP, she said, would also institute a free port initiative to enable Ghanaians to import goods without paying import duties on them.
The move, she said, would enable Ghanaians abroad to send more goods into the country.
Free education
Free education, she said, was still on her agenda and she even had some posters she made in 2012 sitting in her living room.
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According to her, free education was her idea which the New Patriotic Party (NPP) “stole” and made it its agenda, since she was unable to contest the 2012 elections.
A GFP government would ensure that local languages were used in Parliament and would not insist on the use of English in Parliament, Madam Donkor said.
She said people would be able to understand and respond to rules and regulations better when they were allowed to communicate in the local languages, arguing that the Chinese had been able to develop by using their local languages and also cited Germany and Italy as good examples.
She recently visited the two countries as a first-time international traveller on a trade mission sponsored by the Ghana government.
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She also argued that the courts would be able to operate more efficiently with the use of the local languages and not English.
Local content in oil
A GFP government, she said, would also enhance the capacity of Ghana to be in a position to drill oil and refine it for local use without intervention from foreign investors.
That, Madam Donkor said, would enable the country to reap a 100 per cent benefit from the oil resource, instead of sharing it with foreign investors who would export their profits to their home countries.
The railway sector would also witness rehabilitation and expansion of the network to northern Ghana, she added.
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The GFP, she said, would also encourage underground mining, as against surface mining, to protect the country’s vegetation and water bodies.
Mining
According to Madam Donkor, the present situation whereby chiefs had given land to small-scale miners, including the Chinese, to engage in surface mining which had led to the destruction of many water bodies and vegetation would be discouraged.
The use of chemicals for surface mining which ended up in water bodies was contributing to ailments, she said, and insisted that those were some of the wrongs in society she would target to deal with if elected President.
Madam Donkor is unlettered and has never been to school. She made her presidential ambitions known in 2012 and formed the GFP but could not file to contest the presidential elections, as she was unable to meet the necessary documentation.
She has since held on to her ambition and intends to file to contest for the presidency this year.
Writer’s email: enoch.frimpong@graphic.com.gh
Follow @enochfrimpong on Twitter