June 18

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DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2018 11
Politics
Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about
anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for
yourself —Henry James
Develop plan for self-sufficient Ghana
• Akufo-Addo to GBA Charter C’ttee
BY WILBERFORCE ASARE
PRESIDENT NANA
Akufo-Addo has
charged a thirteenmember
committee responsible
for
developing a ‘Ghana
Beyond Aid’ Charter to ensure that
they will develop a policy document
that will put Ghana on a path
to financial self sufficiency.
Addressing the committee after
its inauguration at a ceremony at
the Jubilee House, President
Akufo-Addo said it cannot be right
that after 60 years of Ghana’s independence,
virtually all of the
country’s capital budget is supported
by foreign entities and nations.
This state of affairs, he said,
can never get Ghanaians to the
place where we can confidently say
that we are able to take care of
ourselves and stand on our own
two feet.
Motivation for setting
up the Charter Committee
Amongst other things, the President
indicated that there are three
main reasons that motivated the
decision to set up the Charter
Committee. The three thematic
•President Nana Akufo-Addo speaks at the launch of the 2018 Ghana
Agriculture Census
reasons he said are firstly, the fact
that Ghana should be in a position
by now to fund its own projects
and programmes.
Secondly, Ghana should be able
to decide what are her priorities
and not depend on the instructions
of others. The last reason according
to the President is really
about our self worth as a people
and our sense of dignity and pride.
On the issue of equal representation
on the Committee, President
Akufo-Addo urged the current
members to consider roping in
some young people in society unto
the committee in consultation with
him. The President observed that
since the work of the committee is
about future generations, he
thought it wise to suggest that
some form of youthful representation
on the committee would be a
wise thing to do.
Chairman of the
Committee
The Senior Minister and Chairman
of the Committee in a response
to the charge of the
President, said ‘Ghana Beyond
Aid’ cannot only be talked about
but that he and his committee will
make sure that they develop a
comprehensive charter that will
propel Ghana to the place the
President envisages.
He added that the idea of debating
the charter in Parliament is
a very important step that will
make the charter a non political
document but rather a national
charter. He also predicted that the
charter is likely to be perhaps the
President’s main legacy to Ghana
when it is implemented.
Members of the
Committee
Yaw Osafo Marfo, the Senior
Minister, is the Chairman of the
Ghana Beyond Aid Charter Committee;
Ken Ofori Atta, Minister
for Finance; Ignatius Baffour
Awuah, Employment and Labour
Minister; Professor Gyan Baffour,
Minister for Planning; Hajia Alima
Mahama, Minister for Local Government
and Rural Development
are amongst the Ministers of State
who are on the Committee.
Dr Anthony Yaw Baah and Mrs
Philomena Sampson, both of the
Trade Unions Congress; David
Ofori Acheampong, Ghana National
Association of Teachers;
Nana Osei Bonsu and Kwaku
Agyemang Duah, both of the Private
Enterprises Federation; Dr
Yaw Adu Gyamfi, Association of
Ghana Industries are also members
of the Committee from industry.
The Secretary to the Committee
is Dr Eric Yeboah of the office
of the Senior Minister and a Senior
Policy Advisor at the Ministry
of Finance, Dr Yaw Ansu, is an alternative
member of the Committee.
The President observed
that since the
work of the committee
is about future
generations, he
thought it wise to
suggest that some
form of youthful representation
on the
committee would be
a wise thing to do.
NDC’s ‘Unity Walks’ useless –Amb. Osei
BY KWADWO ANIM
FORMER GHANA’S Consul to the
United Arab Emirates under former
President John Mahama, Ambassador
Daniel Osei has described the
‘Unity Walks’ embarked on by the
opposition National Democratic
Congress (NDC) as a useless exercise
in terms of electoral value.
According to him, the ‘Unity
Walks’ only serve as fanfare for
party supporters to have fun.
The walk has been a key feature
of the opposition party’s itinerary to
strengthen the bonds between the
party hierarchy and the grassroots
after it suffered a humiliating defeat
by then opposition New Patriotic
Party (NPP) in the 2016 general
election.
The ‘Unity Walks’ have been
held in all the 10 regional capitals of
the country with the last edition
being held in the Volta Region on
Saturday June 10, 2018.
Some party executives and ex-
President John Mahama have been
addressing the gatherings. It is seen
as one of the main activities to help
reorganise the NDC and unify the
grassroots of the party to help it recapture
power in 2020.
But, speaking to host Kweku
Owusu Adjei on Anopa Kasapa on
Kasapa FM Thursday, Ambassador
Osei stated that it was sad that resources
and energies were spent in
an unproductive exercise which had
senior party members participating,
adding that it appears the NDC has
not learnt its lesson from the defeat
suffered in the last general elections.
“The NDC unity walks have absolutely
been useless in terms of
electoral value but in terms of energy
yes, it’s been helpful because
people attended and danced during
the event. In terms of electoral
•NDC faithful during a recent ‘Unity Walk’
value, how many people did we register
or identify, what was the message.
President Mahama who led
the walks whenever he mounted the
stage to address the crowd never
had a good message that resonated
with party members, indeed there
was no organized message and it
became a generic exercise and a fanfare.
“The 10 percent of floating voters
we need to win the election
whom we lost in the last election
don’t enjoy these fanfares, the doves
for Mahama, antics from actor John
Dumelo is not something that gets
their attention. And so in effect the
NDC ‘Unity Walks’ is meaningless
in my judgment.”