NDUOM CALLS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW (PAGE 16)

Story: Kwame Asare Boadu, Kumasi

THE presidential candidate of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, has stated that a government under his presidency would move swiftly for a constitutional review that would see the election of District Chief Executives, and abrogate the appointment of majority of ministers from parliament.
Speaking at a forum organised by student supporters of the CPP at the Kumasi Campus of the University of Education Winneba (UEW) on Sunday night, Dr Nduom said the appointment of DCEs by the President had not done the nation any good as the appointees saw themselves as accountable only to the one who appointed them.
He explained that when that was done, parliament would be strengthened to challenge the executive on many decisions for the betterment of the nation.
Dr Nduom further indicated that many people fought to become MPs because they knew that was an opportunity to them to become ministers.
Dr Nduom called on the electorate to reject the NPP and NDC in the December polls because they had nothing more to offer the nation after each of them had served two terms in power and performed below expectation.
He criticised the government’s policies on agriculture, which had resulted in the high prices of food products.
“The policies are misplaced”, he said, and noted that over the years, the government had played into the hands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB).
He said it was regrettable that today, the people were being made to accept that subsidies on agriculture were not important.
Dr Nduom said governments were put in place to serve the interest of the people and not to bring hardships on them.
The CPP presidential candidate stated that in the build-up to the 2000 elections, the NPP told Ghanaians “hwe w’asetena mu na to aba pa” to wit, examine your standard of living and vote wisely.
On the part of the CPP, Dr Nduom said the slogan is, “hwe wo boto mu na to aba pa” literally translated as check your pockets and vote wisely.
He further spoke against the inattention to food processing in the country, and said it was dangerous for the country to rely on imported food products.
Dr Ndoum said he had listened to the other presidential aspirants but none of them had talked about improved agriculture.
He gave the assurance that a CPP government under his presidency would revitalise the agricultural sector.
He said the youth needed jobs but this could materialise when a government of the CPP was voted into power.
The CPP presidential candidate stated that under a CPP government, local industries would be protected to enable them to grow and provide jobs for the people.