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AN Evening Encounter
with
IEA
Ghana
THE INSTITUTE
OF ECONOMIC
AFFAIRS
A Public Policy Institute
EDWARD MAHAMA

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Ghana, was founded in October
1989 as an independent, public policy institute dedicated to the establishment
and strengthening of a market economy and a democratic, free and open
society. It considers improvements in the legal, social and political institutions
as necessary conditions for sustainable economic growth and human
development.
The IEA supports research and promotes and publishes studies on important
economic, socio-political and legal issues in order to enhance the
understanding of public policy.
Further information may be obtained from the Publication Officer:
The Institute of Economic Affairs
P.O.Box OS 1936, Osu Accra, Ghana
Tel: +233-302244716 / 0307010714
Fax: +233 302- 222313
Email: iea@ieagh.org
ISBN: 988-584-61-x
ISSN: 0855-3238
©2010 Copyright by The Institute of Economic Affairs
Printed in Ghana. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be published,
used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the publisher
except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews.
Publication of this work signifies that The IEA regards it as a competent
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conclusions of this paper are entirely those of the authors, and should not be
attributed to The IEA or any organisations that support it.

PREFACE
he Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) Ghana, seeks to
promote the consolidation of democracy and good
Tgovernance in Ghana and West Africa. The IEA works at
this through national and sub-regional programmes of advocacy
for democracy in economic and political governance. Over a
period of twenty (20) years, The IEA has initiated far-reaching
processes of multi party democracy in Ghana, and carried out
events of national cohesion and political accommodation and
accountability.
Since the year 2000, The IEA has organised Presidential Election
Debates ahead of each of the nation's Presidential Elections. In
each election year, these debates have provided Presidential
candidates a platform on which to dialogue with each other on the
policies and programmes they believe will best serve the national
interest. The Presidential Election Debates are gradually instilling
an issues-driven approach to presidential campaigns. The debates
offer the electorate the information on the policy direction of each
Presidential candidate's manifesto, with which to make informed
choices. They further serve as a backdrop against which to demand
accountability from their leaders.
The IEA has created yet another platform to enhance the
development of an issues-driven approach to national elections
and the establishment of accountable leadership in Ghana. This is
the Evening Encounter Series, which was initiated in 2008.
The Evening Encounters concept differs from that of the
Presidential Debates, in that while the focus of the Debates is the
interaction between Presidential candidates, the focus of the
Encounters is the interaction between candidates and the
electorate.
The first series of Evening Encounters took place on the following
dates:
th
May 14 , 2008 Evening Encounter with Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, CPP
th
June 18 , 2008 Evening Encounter with Nana Akufo-Addo, NPP
th
June 26 , 2008 Evening Encounter with Prof. J.E.A. Mills, NDC
rd
July 3 , 2008 Evening Encounter with Dr. Edward N. Mahama, PNC
These Encounters offered the four Presidential candidates, whose
political parties had representation in Parliament, an evening each
of interaction with a cross section of interest groups.
Associations and institutions represented in the 2008 Encounters
included The Ghana Medical Association, The Association of
Ghana Industries, The National Union of Ghana Students, The
Ghana Employer's Association, The Trades Union Congress, The
Ghana Federation for the Disabled, The Ghana National
Association of Teachers, The Network for Women’s Rights in
Ghana, The Ghana Union of Traders Association and The
Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana.
It is our firm belief and optimism that with your collaboration, the
Evening Encounters will indeed serve the purpose for which they
have been initiated. We count on you, the electorate, presidential
aspirants, political parties, policy-makers and civil society, to play
the role that only you can, which is to follow, participate in and
thus, strengthen each step in the process of democratisation of our
dear nation.
The following provides a transcript of events at the Evening
Encounter with Dr. Edward Mahama.
We hope you find this publication useful.
Thank you.
Jean Mensa
Executive Director

as IFES, NIMDs and many more that time will not permit me to
mention. I would not be standing here if not for this experiment of
democratic governance.
Beloved Ghanaians, our campaign theme is “REAL CHANGE,
REAL HOPE”. We have been consistent with this theme since
1996 and indeed we launched a book on it in November, 2000.
This was before the elections in December, in which Ghanaians
desired change at any cost. The book entitled the New Ghanaian;
a Mandate for Change is in its 4th reprint as we speak. That
change must come to give hope to our young people, risking all
odds to cross the Sahara Desert to get to Europe. These young
daring Ghanaians are needed right here to build Ghana and we
must bring about the change that gives them hope to keep them
here.
Dr. Edward Mahama addressing the audience.
istinguished invited guests, fellow Ghanaians watching
by television or listening by radio, ladies and gentlemen,
Dgood evening.
Thank you IEA, GBC and Radio Joy for the opportunity you have
given me to share this platform with the honourable presidential
candidates of the political parties that have representation in
Parliament. Upfront, I commend IEA for the role it is playing in
this democratic dispensation in Ghana. I remember that IEA in
partnership with GBC and other media notably CNN organised
the first ever presidential debate in Ghana before the 2000
elections. Seven presidential candidates participated in that
debate.
I dare say that the building blocks and other materials required for
a durable true representative government are gradually being put
together. I take time to recognise these institutions and others such
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Fellow Ghanaians, the PNC and I believe that the monster of
under development facing Ghana as a Goliath can be defeated.
But you need a David. Simply, this Goliath we now know is
Corruption, Poverty, Ignorance and Disease.
Corruption
The fight against corruption has to be tackled on many fronts but I
will just mention the following that can be addressed immediately
by an elected President. At the personal level: A certain amount of
corruption is a perception problem. The President himself
therefore must be seen to abhor corruption. It will not be, do as I
say but not as I do, it will be, do as I say and do. That is leadership
by example.
At the legislative level: The PNC Administration shall pass laws
to deter would-be corrupt officials namely: Conflict of Interest
Laws, Freedom of Information and Whistle Blower Protection
laws.
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At the governance level: Separate the Minster of Justice from the
Attorney-General or Director of Public Prosecutions position.
This enables the Prosecutor to be impartial and able to prosecute
not only others but people with ties with the Government. Let us
note that corruption does not exist only in the public sector but
also in the private sector with over-invoicing and under-invoicing
of purchase of goods and services. There are other subtle forms of
corruption, with multi-factorial causes that we cannot discuss
here on account of time limitation.
We estimate that if corruption is reduced by about 50-60%, in
addition to the direct cash savings to be realised, the efficiency in
the public sector will also improve, leading to greater national
productivity.
Poverty
The poverty levels estimated variously from 35-45% are
unacceptable, considering the resources in human and material
terms available to Ghana. There are the working-poor of Ghana:
farmers, fishermen, teachers, nurses and many other categories of
people in the public sector, who are working, and yet poor. The
second class are also the teeming unemployed youth of Ghana.
Among both categories of the poor, the working and the
unemployed, women predominate. Reduction of poverty has to
start at the appropriate point to make the impact that we all desire.
Remember we have gone through myriads of programmes such as
PAMSCAD, Poverty Alleviation and now GPRS I & II.
The largest sector of the working-poor, which I have described
above make a good chunk of the private sector. Farmers and
fishermen constitute about 60% of the working force of Ghana
and most are private subsistence workers or peasant farmers.
Their farm and fishing yields have dwindled seriously since we
abolished the Agricultural Extension services that provided
technical and expert support to them. The PNC Administration
will do for crop farmers what we currently do for our cocoa
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farmers to make them constantly put Ghana among the top three
producers of cocoa worldwide. We will find ways to subsidise our
farmers and fishermen. The cocoa production example gives us
the key to poverty reduction, that is, increased production.
Therefore PNC will usher in a golden age of increased
productivity, as contrasted to the Golden Age of Business (buying
and selling of imported goods). Income earned should be
commensurate with levels of productivity. The more productive
you are, the more income you should earn.
Agriculture
Increased productivity in agriculture will be achieved by
rehabilitating the abandoned irrigation projects such as Tono and
Aveyime and dredging the silted and poorly-maintained dams all
over the country. We will revise and modernise the Operation
Feed Yourself of Col Acheampong. Rainwater harvesting into
reservoirs and dams, irrigation, guaranteed farm gate prices,
technical support to minimise post harvest losses and opening up
farming areas by feeder road construction will help our people get
themselves out of poverty. As the late James Brown, a pop singer
of America said: “I don't want nobody to give me nothing: just
open the door, I will get it myself”.
The point here is that equal opportunity is what every Ghanaian is
asking for. That is what the cocoa farmers, who do not even see
what value can be added to their beans in a factory, yet season after
season, year after year they make sure that Ghana remains number
one worldwide. When our rice farmers and fishermen can see how
their rice or fish can be turned into value-added products, I am sure
that their productivity will be increased. Indeed, so far as rice is
concerned I am aware that the University of Ghana, for example,
has a research farm where they have polished locally-made rice,
and when you eat it you cannot tell the difference between it and
the imported rice.
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Also the Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishermen,
the only farmers' body recognised by the 1992 Constitution of
Ghana, is already doing some of the things that I have described.
They have a membership of about 3.5 million people so any
government that works in collaboration with them should increase
productivity within the first two seasons of the year of taking
office.
Education
This is the clearest and most direct way out of individual poverty.
The capitation and school feeding programmes are all in the right
direction. While they have increased enrolments and need to be
expanded and improved, the educational facilities have not been
increased alongside; there are no classrooms. Teacher training and
improved conditions of service for teachers, coupled with
curriculum reform, not in changing the number of years, but in
course content will add quality to quantity to lift the nation up. In
this regard, we will emphasise mathematics, science and add a
course we call “Thinking”. This subject will start to encourage
Ghanaian children to solve their own problems such as disposal of
the garbage around them or how to convert the fibre of the cocoa
pod into a value- added product.
Science is a practical subject and even during the First
Republic, rocket science was taught by launching rockets on the
school soccer pitches. I remember walking almost from Tamale
Secondary School to Ghana College a distance of about maybe
10 miles to witness a rocket because that was the time of space
exploration and we were all excited about it. So our science and
our teaching should be practically oriented. I am sure that if you
go to Legon and you go into the geology class and show some of
the students rocks from a mining area that may have diamond in
it they may be happy to see that this is a piece of rock because our
education is chew, pour, pass and forget.
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Youth empowerment starts with making education accessible to
them and almost on their terms; that is, make education flexible to
accommodate every child to some extent. Night school for young
adults who for one reason or the other failed to complete a school
course could still salvage them and take them off the streets. The
School for Life programme will be adopted nationwide to rescue
the kayayes and other street children. Child labour will be outlawed
by revising the compulsory Fee-Free Education Law. A
programme to teach work ethics to our students will be introduced
by giving tax rebates to companies and firms that employ students
during their long vacation periods. Each school child will be
supplied with a lap top computer. In rural areas, this programme
will fall under the rural development programme to make sure the
enabling environment is there. There is no point giving someone a
laptop when there is no electricity or telecommunication facilities.
Each regional capital will obtain a university with each region
providing some specialty for example the Volta Region providing
a university that will train artisans to the highest level. Some
people out there might ask, “Where is Mahama getting the money
to start all these universities” The first and only secondary school
in the whole north (northern territories currently called Northern,
Upper West and Upper East regions) for a long time was a middle
school turned into a secondary. Chief Adam is here; he will bear
me witness. I attended that school even the Vice President, Aliu
Mahama, attended it.
The buildings were round huts. It didn't stop chief from becoming
an engineer neither did it stop Aliu Mahama from becoming the
Vice President of Ghana. He started his secondary education in
round huts. So we can make use of what we have that is what the
colonialists taught us because they did this when the north agitated
for education. In fact my older brother who died was sent home
because he demonstrated against the kind of education they were
giving the northerners. He had to continue his education at
Mfantsipim.
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For faculty to support all these new universities, we will start the
programme to recruit retired Ghanaian professors abroad. Some
of them have good pensions and if we start a volunteer faculty,
Ghanaians all over the world who are teaching in other countries,
and who desire to be of use to Ghana will be coming home in order
to support this educational programme. What they will expect
from government is honest, transparent government. These
retired professors will start these universities and recruit locally
trained younger persons to replace them. It is the challenge of
nation building that will motivate them to do this.
Another source of funds to support productive programmes in
agriculture, education and balance the budget will be to cut down
the size of Government. Estimates from three different sources, on
the number of ministers desirable and appropriate for Ghana has
put the figure between 30 and 40 ministers and deputies, including
the regional ministers. The savings in the numbers of cars given to
ministers the trimmings in fuel, the reduction in maintenance and
reduction in corruption will be considerable.
At the tertiary level, Science, ICT, Creative Arts will be
encouraged. Pharmaceutical Sciences with emphasis on plant
medicine will be added so that we can add value to the numerous
herbs that people are using now. You know a lot of Ghanaians now
seek herbal treatment because they cannot afford the hospitals
even in addition to the National Health Insurance because they get
the prescription but they cannot afford the medication. So they
resort to herbs. Another source of potential funding will be the
income that we expect from the oil reserves (and the oil companies
have briefed some of us and said that late in 2010 we will be
exporting oil). It will be for parliament to create an Education
Trust to be managed as a mixed portfolio for grants, scholarships
and loans to deserving but needy students.
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr of America said, “A brain is a terrible
thing to waste”. More so a Ghanaian brain. Therefore no Ghanaian
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brain should be wasted for lack of means to train and exploit that
intelligence.
About 1% of the national budget will be apportioned to a Research
and Development Fund to translate local research into practical
solutions to our problems and turn research into commercial
products and services. This should help local academic and
research institutions like CSIR, Noguchi the Universities etc.
Stakeholders in research such as the Association of Ghana
Industries will all have a say in the disbursement of this R & D
fund.
Girl-child education is also the route for women emancipation and
their removal from the poverty ranks. We will aim to make our
Government gender balanced: that is 50% of cabinet shall be
women. We believe in women (after all they are our mothers,
sisters or wives) and PNC demonstrated this belief in women in
1996 by the choice of a woman, Madam Dedo Mate of Somanya
as our Vice-Presidential candidate.
Health
Environmental sanitation and potable water for everyone in
Ghana are the building blocks for a healthy nation. To this end,
underground sewerage systems will be undertaken as part of our
malaria control efforts. Decentralising responsibilities to the
district assemblies so that they manage their local situation will
achieve far greater results in controlling parasitic infestations
such as guinea worm, hookworm etc. Districts may then be able
to entice doctors and nurses by offering incentives such as
accommodation or short term education abroad. A national
programme to retain doctors in the country will be initiated by
helping young graduates from the medical schools, especially at
the specialist level, to start their own practices in places like
Suhum that have the population base to support a small medical
practice. We will also do much to combat the thorny issue of
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healthcare provider emigration by increasing the training of these
professionals and removing the push factors in Ghana that
synergise with the “pull factors” to send them abroad.
The National Health Insurance Scheme has started with some
“teething” problems. We will review its operations to date with a
view to strengthening and expanding it. But the other half of the
scheme is Health Maintenance Organisation. This scheme will be
to keep Ghanaians healthy so that the Health Insurance is not overutilised
to bankruptcy. When you get vehicle insurance, you do
not stop maintaining your car so that you can get an accident and
then claim insurance.
When you buy your car, you make sure that the parts are working,
you make sure that the headlight is working. Similarly, this
national health insurance scheme should be seen as one half being
the other half this health maintenance organisation and this will
incorporate all current public and preventive medicine
approaches such as immunisations, maternal and child health and
it is a scheme to actively promote health. Somebody with a BP of
210/160 is walking around oblivious. We will encourage yearly
physicals as part of this health promotion schemes so that silent
but killer diseases like hypertension, diabetes and cancer can be
detected. If you are a man of over 45 in this hall I will advise you to
go and get your prostrate examined because it is a common cause
of cancer.
Embedded in the Health Maintenance Organisation is a Medical
Intelligence Unit. This unit will have the responsibility to look
down the road of healthcare or national health and decide or
advice government on what is happening down the health road.
For example we all know (doctors in particular) that as our
lifestyles in Ghana change and we live like Western Europeans,
diabetes, hypertension, chronic heart diseases will all become a
problem.
What else will happen down the road This Medical Intelligence
Unit will have the responsibility to advise Government so that
Government doesn't wait till we have epidemic proportions of any
disease and then panics. Government can always plan ahead in
order to take care of the people's health and try to predict emerging
disease patterns. Health maintenance implies that our pregnant
women will be healthy to bring forth healthy babies with reduced
neonatal and infant mortality.
Maternal and Infant mortality will be tackled by co-ordinating
existing programmes and making them more efficient. The nation
has made a lot of efforts in this direction but synchronising and
avoiding duplication could make the taxpayer receive value for
money. The Ministry of Health must take the monitoring and
evaluation function more seriously while devolving
implementation of programmes to the District Assemblies. The
HMO Medical Intelligence Unit will also have epidemiological
data collection functions to warn the nation in advance as to the
trend to disease patterns so that preventive steps can be taken
ahead of epidemics.
Food security, housing and water are the backbone and the core of
our health policy. Low cost housing schemes will be developed in
partnership with private developers. In the area of food security,
even private operators like the Christian Friends of Democracy
need help to make Government's role less duress.
Trade
Unbridled and unfair competition and illicit trade hamper
Ghanaian operators. For example in the poultry sector, we all
know what happened when Parliament passed a law, a phone call
allegedly put the law on ice. PNC promises that we will extend the
school feeding programme by a piece of chicken locally grown.
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Energy
Our view, expressed at the KNUST forum, is that even though we
hopefully will be exporting oil by 2010, Ghana must develop a
healthy mix in the energy sector that includes hydro, wind, solar,
thermal, nuclear and bio-fuels. In the case of solar we will
advocate a sub-regional project that includes Burkina Faso,
Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Niger, Mali and Libya so that the Sahara
could be harnessed for it solar potential. Funding for such a
project would be easier to secure because of its multi-national
nature.
Mining
My first visit to Obuasi gave me the shock of my life because of
the conditions I saw there. We need to review our mining laws to
take care of environmental degradation problems. Indeed, a BBC
programme I listened to this year indicated that generally Africa is
not getting as much revenues from mining operations as it should.
Therefore mining is an area that needs a review now because it has
been two decades or more since the passage of the Ghana
Investment Promotions Act.
Governance under PNC
The Founder of this Party, Dr. Hilla Limann ran a Government for
27 months. One study recently looked at the three previous
republics and judged Dr. Limann’s 3rd Republic as the most
democratic of them all. He was exemplary in his fight against
corruption. He led by example not by words and even the coup
d'état that removed him (and we know how our military regimes
are) did not find or convict a single minister of Dr Limann, even
though he was accused of corruption. That tells you what a clean,
corruption-free Government that he ran and that is what we are
promising the people of Ghana. Indeed, our party motto is
“Service with Honesty”. We have the magic wand to solve
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Ghana's problems created over decades of mismanagement and
unwarranted coups d'état starting with our nation's founder, the
visionary, honest and humble Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
Armed Robbery and Personal Security
Ghanaians now live in fear because of the increased incidence of
armed robbery. And it has come very close to me. Two weeks ago
one of my nurses was not only robbed but she was raped. Another
one had her bag snatched when she getting into a tro-tro and I
know a media person who was attacked by armed robbers. And
much as this is a multi-factorial problem, we will suggest that the
best way to tackle it is by making sure there are no youth hanging
around in the streets plotting how to attack somebody by giving
them employment; by making sure that they are in the classroom.
Then you have to increase the Police Force in number of officers,
motivating and equipping them. The housing scheme mentioned
earlier shall be extended to all our security men and women; that
is, Army, Police, CEPS and Fire Service. Youth employment takes
them off the streets and away from crime.
Drug and Substance Abuse
This has become a national disaster because cocaine and other
hard drugs are everywhere. Indeed, one school complained to me
that people are lacing the shito that students eat in school with
cocaine to get them addicted. We proposed sometime ago that
Ghana needs a National Drug and Substance Abuse Policy; we
still stand by that proposal. The drug barons and the victims of
drug problems need to be handled differently. As I speak, there are
no rehabilitation centres for people with addiction problems and
alcohol addiction is a major problem in Ghana. I am sure Dr Asare
and his colleagues at the Psychiatric Hospital will tell you about
these problems. Besides the criminal aspect of this problem, there
are health, economic and national security issues involved.
Rehabilitation centres to deal with addiction and its attendant
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consequences are urgently needed. So we need rehab centres and
this could be captured in the National Drug and Substance Abuse
Policy that we intend to pass as a Government.
In summary, we need to create a middle class of Ghanaians by
reducing poverty, bridging the income gap. Very few Ghanaians
are very rich, while the rest are poor, or middle class. We need to
bring in the golden age of increased productivity. Without
increase in productivity we cannot get out of poverty. Ghana has
all it takes to bring this changed situation. What is lacking is a
leader to bring about the paradigm shift with the “I can do spirit”.
I am such a leader and I promise the good people of Ghana honest,
sincere problem-solving leadership. PNC and I are ready for the
job and the evidence of that is here. The PNC manifesto 2008
titled Economic Prosperity Now, Youth Empowerment and
Economic Independence Soonest. We have a great country, and
Edward Mahama will make it greater.
Thank you very much.
QUESTION AND ANSWER SECTION
Kwaku Sakyi-Addo:
Dr. Mahama, will you and Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom eventually have a
common candidacy or not
Dr. Mahama:
We are working on that. I believe in unity of the Nkrumahist
family and I have demonstrated it clearly by everything that has
happened. That's what I can tell you.
Kwaku Sakyi-Addo:
What went wrong
Dr. Mahama:
Well, specifically what I will say went wrong was that we both
didn't handle the matter properly even though I had several party
meetings authorising this. That particular event of going into
voting was never discussed. But we also requested that nothing
should be leaked to the press until certain things were done,
notably a joint statement should be prepared by our script or media
people. When they prepared the statement they were to hand it
over to the two chairmen. They were to then vet the statement and
if it met what we intended to do, they (the chairmen of the parties)
would announce it to Ghana and the world. I remember somebody
saying even you candidates should not say anything else until this
has been done. And right from the parties that didn't work and it
created some problems for us in our party and the democrat that I
am I said well let's have the party come out and either confirm or
dismiss it.
I remember the NPP administration went abroad to bring in some
money for Ghana; the IFC loan. They negotiated the best they
could, brought it to Parliament and Parliament rejected it; it never
became a loan. Similarly, I went on doing what I thought was good
in accepting to be a running-mate, because in all honesty I think I
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can face the NPP because I haven't served with them. I can
challenge them.
Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom served with them and maybe they may have
some issues that he wouldn't want to talk about. I have nothing to
hide because I didn't serve with them. So I honestly thought that I
was the candidate to face the NPP. It didn't happen that way and I
didn't argue with it and I didn't quarrel. But when my party
rejected it, I went along with the party because always I tell people
I have lasted this long as the leader of the party because I know
what they want. But people think I am difficult, if I am difficult I
am difficult on their behalf not on my personal behalf.
Dr Audrey Gadzekpo, School of Communication Studies,
University of Ghana:
Dr Mahama I was really glad to hear you put corruption at the top
of your agenda because we all know the devastating impact of
corruption. But I am interested in a little bit more detail.
You talked about some of the measures – the Whistle Blowers Act;
but it has already been passed and I am wondering what it is about
the Whistle Blowers Act that you will do differently. You talked
about under-invoicing and there is the Procurement Act also that
has been passed. I am wondering if you have in mind some
changes to that Act. You talked about the Freedom of Information
Bill. That bill is being drafted as you know and I am wondering
some specific things that you will like to see in that bill.
But most substantially, I am interested in knowing your stand on
the assets declaration regime of Ghana because we all know that
is one of the more problematic anti-corruption measures that is
not properly constituted in Ghana and not been properly
implemented. So I am interested in knowing your thoughts on how
you will change the assets declaration to be more receptive to the
anti-corruption intent that it was meant for and also whether you
will declare your assets even before you become President.
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Dr. Mahama:
I think the assets declaration is an easy thing for me because I was
just saying before you came in that I have done it before. When I
was a board member of the Department of Health of the City of
Chicago I was required to declare my assets.
Ghana has all the laws that we really need to run a clean,
transparent and accountable government; but it is a question of
implementation. You talked about whether I will do anything
differently about the laws. Usually it is not good to start tinkering
because they have not been tested. If they have been passed let's
see how they are implemented. After implementation it is then
possible to see where the loopholes are and tighten them. We are
not going to leave it for 10 years. We will look at it a year or two
after years of implementation and see whether it is meeting the
aspirations of the people of Ghana.
Dr. Gadzekpo:
Will you declare your assets
Dr. Mahama
Oh definitely; that is what I said is not a problem for me. I don't
have too much, so it is easy for me to declare.
Mr Ernest Owusu Aboagye, Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana:
Dr Mahama, I want to know how you plan to empower the
pharmaceutical sector as a critical agent in the golden age of
increased productivity and what do you see as the sector's role in
developing a herbal-based pharmaceutical science in Ghana
Dr. Mahama:
To increase productivity, we must also favour our local
manufacturers because of the unbridled importation of drugs,
some of which are sub-standard. And unfortunately for us because
of the poverty level in Ghana, people consider price and not
quality. They buy the cheapest thing not caring very much whether
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it can do what it's supposed to do. If we are going to help increase
local production and protect them we have to pass some laws.
There is no reason why you should buy imported drugs and supply
to these health clinics and health centres all over the country when
there are local manufacturers. I will certainly go for local
manufacturing to supply government institutions. Also, as a
doctor I like to encourage other doctors to learn to use what they
call generic prescriptions. Most Ghanaian drugs are generic; they
are not brand names because the one who invented the drugs has
already got his money by branding it. If you put a regulation in
your health policy for generic products to be used you actually
limit people to made in Ghana drugs because we don't research
and bring out any new products that we can brand. People use
generics and that is how I will go about it.
Mr Joseph Adu Boampong, Ghana Federation of the Disabled:
Dr, the 1992 Constitution of Ghana in Chapter 5 guarantees
human rights and freedoms.Article 29 of this Constitution
mentions the rights of persons with disability. As a Presidential
hopeful how can you help in the realisation of these rights and
freedoms for persons with disabilities
Dr. Mahama:
First of all I think that handicapped people are not retarded people.
If you have lameness in your leg it doesn't stop you from doing the
things that anybody can do. Ghanaians always set the example.
There is one blind man who is a lawyer and I know a pharmacist
who had polio. Basically, what we need to do as a Government is
to make sure that we remove the bottlenecks, and give these
people the opportunity to be trained. The School for the Deaf and
that for the Blind, for example; we must make sure that the schools
are equipped so that those people with these disabilities will not be
left out. But if you go to the Wa School for the Deaf you will be
shocked. The thing to do is to consider them and give them equal
opportunities by making sure that the school for the blind have the
17
equipment - Braille so that they are able to teach so that they also
can become useful citizens of our nation.
Mr Abdul Karim Hakeem, NUGS:
Day in day out, we keep hearing about access to quality education
and we get promises from different political parties that we will
make sure there is access to education. But what most of them fail
to tackle is how affordable it can be. What will your Presidency do
to make quality tertiary education affordable to students of this
country
Dr. Mahama:
Thank you very much. As I have already indicated I think what we
need to do is to create a scholarship scheme or a trust that has other
portfolios in it - scholarships, loans, grants. They may afford some
aspects of the total cost of education but not some others. If you
have a trust that is looking at helping people in their areas of need
then you will have education available to everybody. At the
moment we are lumped all in the same group and I think that is the
difficulty. For example, the rent for the hostels that are being built
at Legon is high. If you come from the north and your father is a
farmer how are you going to get in there There should be a way to
make sure that even if they have to go there, there is some rent
subsidy for students from needy families. That needs government
working in partnership with private individuals. It is a good thing
that they have put up the hostel there. I know one hostel near
where I live, it's a private one and it is not getting patronage; they
are almost winding up or folding up their business. Not because
the students are not there but they can't afford it. I think
government-private partnership is the way to go to solve some of
the problems that you are talking about.
WILDAF representative:
Dr Mahama, I was very happy when you said your administration
will work with about 50% of women. I would like to know how you
will go about it. Are you going to enact a law or you will make a
18

policy on that And then we are all aware that on our public
boards and commissions we don't normally have women chairing
or taking leadership position, how do you intend to do that
Dr. Mahama:
I have already said at the beginning that I am going to practice
leadership by example so I will do what I think is right to do;
appoint 50% women to the cabinet. If they perform and
everybody sees that these women who have been appointed have
performed very well, and there is reason to believe that if it is not a
law some other party or some other President may go back on it,
then we can put it in law. But I think I am going to lead by example
so I will do what I say is good and that is why I say it will not be “do
as I say but not as I do” but it will be” do as I say and do”.
Kweku Sakyi-Addo:
Dr Mahama, there is a Constitutional provision that requires the
President to appoint 50% of his or her cabinet from Parliament.
So if there aren't enough women in Parliament how do you have
half of your cabinet as women
Dr. Mahama:
Then you appoint 50% of the men from Parliament and then you
appoint 50% of the women outside Parliament to get your 50%.
Mr Kwame Gyasi, Business School, Legon and Columnist of the
Spectator:
Dr Mahama I was very happy when you didn't spend too much
time on economic issues and you dwelled on social factors
because I believe the problems of this country are social -
corruption, indiscipline, managerial incompetence, and above all
negative mass scale of leadership from the castle level to the
family level.
Now about oil, you made a passing comment on oil. I want you to
think a little bit more about that because I am worried. The
19
colonialists left us a castle constructed on a rocky beach and we
couldn't manage it. How do we manage an engineering miracle on
the high seas in a turbulent state
Dr. Mahama:
Well, I did not define the borders of Ghana. God who gave it to us
knows that we can manage it, so we will manage. But on a more
serious note the way to manage it now is what we are doing. I am
very glad that people are talking about it. I met a gentleman from
the Western Region who said they were going for a meeting at
Mpohor Wassa. They are already talking about the oil down on the
coast of Western Region. It is good; I was telling him, “Look we
must not create another Niger Delta here in Ghana”. The people
nearest must have some advantage.
I have talked to some of the people causing problems in the Niger
Delta. When you have listened to them, you can't but agree that
they have the right to protest. We shouldn't let that repeat itself
here.
Dr . Rose Mensah Kutin, NETRIGHT:
Dr Mahama, you are seeking to get the mandate of the citizens of
this country and you have demonstrated your readiness to do this
by showing us your manifesto. You have also referred to yourself
as a democrat and therefore it is important for us to think through
some of the main outstanding questions that need to be addressed
as far as the democratic experiment we as a people have chosen to
pursue as the path for our development. So I want you to tell us
specifically what these critical issues are and how you will go
about addressing them
Dr. Mahama:
One issue that comes to mind is the issue of “winner-takes-all”.
We've seen that the problems in Zimbabwe and Kenya and other
parts of Africa are because of this attitude. I can promise you that
the PNC administration will not say ”we have won therefore you
20

wait for your turn”. I have also said that another way to diffuse it is
to have dialogues. I will have once a month tuo zafi session with
the former President Kufuor and former President Rawlings. We
must work together. You've had your turn, you've gone but you
still have something to offer. I think these are issues that in my
mind people feel alienated or marginalised in the governance
process. We must at all times be mindful of the fact that there are
other people there who don't feel they are part of it and it is our
responsibility to make them feel they are part of it.
Kwaku Asante Krobea, GRNA:
Dr President-to-be, I was enthused about your mention of issues
relating to health professionals and nurses and the fact that you
said you are going to ensure that health training institutions that
train our professionals are strengthened. And I guess you are
familiar with the problems at the moment about the training of
professionals.
I can tell you for a fact that over the past four years, the number of
health training institutions has grown by about 60% and some of
the problems lead to lack of infrastructure. As we turn out the
students how we can fairly distribute them to ensure that all
regions have their fair share of these professionals especially
nurses. Please tell me what you are going to do differently.
Dr. Mahama:
Increasing the numbers of training institutions is a welcome idea
and as you have said, the infrastructure is the next step.
So far as the situation is concerned we have in our manifesto the
issue of growth pole and urban renewal. That growth pole is
targeting certain district capitals to put the basic minimal
infrastructure in them. And I always use Tema as an example;
when I first came to Tema it wasn't as big as it is now. Tema was a
fishing town that Dr Nkrumah took and turned into a model town.
If we do that with the districts, it will be easier to go to live in a
district.
21
Those are some of the things that we need to do to encourage them.
You can't force them but I always use the Indian example. When
India was training people, people were laughing at them. Do you
know that most Indian physicians and nurses in UK and in the
United States are going back And indeed, they have gone back
with such expertise that people are leaving Europe and America to
go to India for care, because it is cheaper. If we put these systems
in place, they will come home. Your question is loaded, I am a
healthcare professional, I know the problems just give me the
mandate; I will try and fix it.
Dr. K.B. Darkwa, President of the Ghana Veterinary Medical
Association:
I was very glad to hear you say you are going to continue with the
good policy of the school feeding programme and specifically you
will continue to give chicken-home grown ones. Actually this is a
laudable policy. However it calls for an increase in the population
of poultry and an increase in effective animal healthcare. But
presently in Ghana, animal healthcare is on the decline. I can tell
you for a fact that presently in Accra laboratories, diseases like
rabies are being diagnosed. About six of them positive every
month. Anthrax is raging all over in the north. This is because
veterinarians are working under harsh conditions and this was
due to the fact that in 1997 a policy which was introduced by the
World Bank called the Unifying Agric Extension Policy fused
Veterinary Service Department under the agricultural sector and
therefore vets are working now under agriculturalists.
We are not agriculturalists, we are health professionals. The
difference with the medics is that we are health professionals for
animals. There is a saying by one of the Russian professors that
veterinary medicine treats many. All of you here might have taken
egg, fresh milk, meat, which will have been inspected by a vet. If
we don't do our work well you will get diseases and you will run to
the medical officer.
22

Therefore I want to ask this question; what will you do specifically
to upgrade animal health delivery in Ghana if you become
president.
Dr. Mahama:
I can testify to your concerns because one of my good friends used
to take care of our dogs - a veterinarian who left Ghana just last
year and he left with the doctor who used to cover my clinic when I
am gone. So not only have we lost a veterinarian, we have also lost
a medical officer. They have immigrated to Canada where things
are made easy for them to go there. We must make things easy for
people to return. But to answer you, I agree with you that
Veterinary Services used to be separate and need to stand separate
because these services don't belong under agriculture. We will
separate it and give it the importance it deserves.
Mr. David Akaki, private individual:
Dr. Mahama, if you look at all the social indicators; education,
health, agric all those things relating to the north we are far
behind. And there are also some enclaves in the southern sector
where we have similar indicators. What are you going to do to
address these problems so that the north can develop and catch up
with the south
Dr. Mahama:
Those are the defining criteria for intervention. Equal opportunity
means first finding out who are disadvantaged. It doesn't matter
whether you are in the north or in the west. I have traveled around
this country and I know there are places in Western Region, in
Volta Region, that are just as deprived as the north. So if we want
to move Ghana into the middle income we have to correct
anomalies. We will look at equal opportunity and equity in the
distribution of the national cake and making sure that everybody
feels they are part of it, then they will give their best and we will
move the country forward.
Dr. Mahama:
Not only skills; the productivity factor in Ghana is also affected by
our work ethics. As I said, it starts even at the highest level. For
example, most state functions that I have attended are scheduled
for 10 o'clock but don't get started until 11 o' clock. So our attitude
towards time is one of the problems. Workers may have the skills
but if they came in late or never get there at all because they have
taken time off to go for a funeral, your productivity is bound to be
low.
Training on the job is also an alternative for skills improvement.
Even at my level, in America you are required to do what they
called continuous medical education. Your license to practice will
not be renewed unless you show that you have attended some
courses in the previous year. It is possible for Kpandai Hospital for
example to say that each year, they will let doctors go to Accra at
our cost to attend a course for one week. Then the doctor is
encouraged and motivated. These schemes can always be
incorporated into the way of doing things and I think that is the
way to improve skills and let people feel like they belong.
Private individual:
You stressed on corruption, the previous parties also stressed on
corruption. My question to you is, how will your Government
strengthen the Ministry of Interior to ensure a measure of
discipline of the IGP of this country or the very Police Intelligence
and Professional Standards Bureau How can your Government
ensure that these special police units do not shield corrupt police
personnel
Dr. Mahama:
What we need to do is to empower already existing bodies like the
CHRAJ and Serious Fraud Office. They should feel independent
enough, not seeking to please the President. Once the complaint is
made, they should be free to investigate.
23
24

Dr. Mary Coleman, Ghana Medical Association:
I am glad you mentioned that you are going to do something about
maternal mortality. Fortunately we got some money from the
British Government and we understand it is to be put into free
antenatal care. As an obstetrician gynaecologist do you think that
that is the best way to address the problem we have at hand
Dr. Mahama:
We must ask, how do we continue, after the British Government's
funding to us dries up I am thinking of how we will continue with
that programme. Definitely, the health maintenance that I am
talking about will promote this.
What I have in my clinic is a school for pregnant women. We don't
charge for the service. Whether you are my patient or not my
patient, you can come. Because I believe the quality of the
Ghanaian of tomorrow starts with the one in the mother's womb. I
am sure there are a lot of people doing what I am doing. What we
need to do is to identify those benevolent and private individuals
out there. Ghanaians are doing a lot but we do not coordinate what
they are doing into national programmes and policies. When we
do that you will see that we will get over our problems in a very
short time.
Mr. Alex Frimpong, Ghana Employers' Association:
In Dr Mahama's speech he obviously referred to productivity as
one of the critical issues that he will be looking at. But from a
broader perspective education, vocational training and lifelong
learning are very critical to people finding their feet in the world
of work, productivity and sustainable enterprise development.
Where people have low wages, low incomes and low productivity
it actually eliminates them from participating in economic growth
and development and even for employers it has a lot of impact on
their taking part in mobilisation and competitiveness. How will
you help improve the relevant skills in the country and also
address the issue of competitiveness of employers
25
I think that the way to go is to let agencies and departments feel
secure enough and I hope the media should do the same thing.
They should be free to do what they think is necessary. Sometimes
they don't know how the President wants a particular situation to
go so they try to second-guess him. So either they don't act or they
act in a way that is more or less denying even their own
conscience. If the IGP is a man of integrity, then he will be free to
take decisions that he sees necessary. We are all under the same
roof, the President and the IGP.
Mr. Ohene Nkansah, GNAT:
You have spoken very well and I like your clarity of expression.
Continue with it. Regarding introducing a course on thinking; the
problem is how should that course be covered. What teaching
models should Ghanaian teachers adopt in order to impart this
new course
The second point is whether the PNC has a national character.
And the other issue is that economic development starts from the
classroom. Now precepts and incepts have become very, very
expensive. Is our Government preparing to accept appropriate
percentage in the GDP within the education budget that is
targeted with teacher professional development expenditure in the
country
Dr. Mahama:
Some time ago we closed teacher training colleges and then we
ran into a situation where we had no teachers. Again we are
increasing enrolment but we haven't sat down to look ahead. I
remember the chairman and I went to GNAT when we were
talking about the school feeding programme. What we wanted to
find out was how many children were out there that should be in
school; what would happen if they all flooded the classrooms;
how would we handle them That was the kind of preparation that
we were trying to do.
26

This course that I am talking about is needed but is not a course
that I know is taught somewhere. But Ghanaians don't always
have to follow what is taught somewhere else.
You and I and the people who will be required to bring this to bear
will have to sit down and say what should be the content. If for
example Ghana were the United States of America every child
growing in a cocoa growing area would know what to do with the
leaves of the cocoa tree, the bark and the pod. What we are saying
is that we should teach them about the environment in a practical
way. Then they themselves will develop things out of what they
have around them. This is what is lacking. We will go and learn all
about the history of Britain, learn about the wall of independence
in America. How many people here know that Nalerigu had a wall
built in 1347 by a chief there, like the Great Chinese Wall There
are two towns in this our land with walls around them.
So what we are saying is let's be practical, let's learn about
ourselves and think about our problems and try to find solutions to
those problems. It is not a call that I think is above us. There are
learned people here and across the country who can crack that
course once I institute it. And that is the other thing that I said; that
if I were President Kufuor I wouldn't ask the Chinese to come and
build the Bui Dam.
We built a dam at Akosombo with Ghanaian engineers working
with the Italians and the Americans. Where are all those people
How come now we are always asking others to do things for us
What did we do with the experience from Akosombo What did
we do with the experience from Kpong They could have come as
consultants or partners but Ghanaian firms could have been
charged to look for those engineers who built Akosombo and say
go and do it. We are going to borrow their money yes we are going
to pay with interest but our people should do it. That way we will
send Ghanaian engineers to go and dam the Congo River and
supply power to Central Africa.
27
The problem of our youth is not only the lack of education but
discipline. And I know that when we were students we had the
cadet corps in the schools. I also know that even in the area of
sports we had the academics. Sport is a very enjoyable way for
young people to get disciplined. At the school level we will
introduce programmes in the schools in athletics, soccer, and
other areas that give them some discipline.
Representative from the National Road Safety Commission:
Thank you Dr Mahama, I am worried that you have not fully
addressed some of the pertinent issues in my area. We live in a
country where 1600 people die annually through road accidents;
4 persons are killed daily on the roads. How does the PNC propose
to deal with the issue
Dr. Mahama:
As Government we must make sure that the roads are worthy of
the cars. There are a lot of the roads that are not worthy of the cars.
You cannot solve all these problems at once. But you must have a
planned programme. For example we could decide that every
district capital must be linked to the regional capital by a tarred
road and make this known to the people. Let people know that by a
certain date, all the roads from the district to the region would be
tarred. Then we would have a programme for developing the
roads. I see the contractors on the Kumasi-Accra road; they've
been there almost the whole term of President Kufuor, but I don't
see any change really on that road and I wonder about the money
that we are spending there.
The reason for the accidents is the ignorance that I've talked about
- drivers not knowing their signs. There is a lot education your
people can do. I know you are doing it. I was actually impressed
with your facility. We've seen a lot of improvement. When I went
to the Veld, I saw the kind of changes that have been brought there.
So I know gradually that mortality will come down because you
are working on it.
28

Mr. Kwabena Otu, TUC:
Dr Mahama, about the golden age of increased productivity and
the wage situation in Ghana. How do you intend to address the
low wages in Ghana if indeed you are serious about the golden
age of increased productivity
Dr. Mahama:
Running a government is like running any company, except that
the social face of the government should be more visible than the
capitalist intent. So we have thought about cutting down the size
of government. Hopefully, that will lead to some money being
freed to improve the salaries of those who are there. We have also
thought about increased productivity in the agricultural sector. If
a worker's salary is one million cedis a month and transportation is
about 20% of that; if we have increased food production, he can
spend less on food. He will now feel that he has some disposable
income in his pocket; he will now feel more motivated by his job.
So it is multi-faceted approach that we are going to take. We will
help farmers to increase food production. That means that all other
sectors will get the benefit of it and then we can move it forward.
I am glad to say there are some people in this room who have been
part of the review of the salary structure in this country. The NDC
had their programme and the NPP has their programme; we will
put both of them together and give it to Ghanaians and I am sure
that we will do something about it.
Concluding remarks:
I would like to thank everybody for listening to me. I have said that
our campaign is based on the theme "Real Change, Real Hope".
We believe sincerely that it takes a change in the attitude of
government itself beginning with the President. It takes an attitude
of change to move us from where we are with all the resources that
everybody in this country knows we have, including the human
29
resource. The question is what is lacking What is lacking is this
mental dependency that we have. If we don't run to Europe we
can't have anything done.
And this mental dependency is something that I don't have and I
will not have and I will lead the Government not to have it. I talked
to it a person from the Bank of Ghana and I actually hammered on
how much money we are getting and the person said I get amazed
because we know how much money we are bringing into the
nation but I can't see what we do with that money.
So even the people who are counting the money know that we are
getting a lot of money. At the end of the day how we spend it
determines what we get from it. Those are areas that I know we
make a difference. Some of the people who advised Operation
Feed Yourself are still alive. And I can't stop talking about
Operation Feed Yourself because it taught me one thing; I was
already a doctor but I took advantage of that government
programme to give myself a scholarship to go abroad. So I know
that if government programmes are targeted, but not limited to
certain sectors of the community or the nation, other people will
take advantage of them.
What we need is to have programmes designed to meet national,
and not partisan, needs. That is why I think the NDC and NPP
antagonism has retarded the growth of Ghana. PNC should be
given the chance and you will see. After all the people in Volta
Region say that you cannot balance a cooking pot (all of you know
how the cooking pot looks like) on two stones; we need three
stones. So when you have put that third stone there, that is PNC,
the pot of Ghana will be balanced well and we will cook the food
that we like.
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THE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
IEA
GHANA
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