The Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) has launched its manifesto and introduced its running mate at a simple but impressive ceremony at its headquarters at North Kaneshie in Accra.
Some of the 116 parliamentary aspirants of the party were also introduced to party members who had come from all over the country at the event yesterday.
Dubbed, "Restoring National Hope and Confidence", the 45-page manifesto is under four thematic areas:
"The political question"; "The economic equation"; "The social contract" and "International relations and diplomacy".
The 43-year-old presidential aspirant of the DFP, Mr Emmanuel Ansah-Antwi, introducing his running mate, Mrs Patience Ameku, 61, described her as a well cut out person for the job of vice-president.
"She is an experienced educationist, administrator, counsellor, politician and gender activist who has taught at both elementary and secondary levels for 20 years, worked in educational management for 13 years and as district chief executive (DCE)," he added.
Mrs Ameku, who received a Bachelor of Arts (English) degree from the University of Ghana, Legon in 1982, also holds a graduate Diploma in Public Administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
She acted as the DCE for Kadjebi from January to October 1993 and was the District Secretary for Kadjebi from 1988 to 1992 .
Mrs Ameku, who was from 1994 till last year an assistant director at the Ghana Education Service Headquarters, Secondary Division, also taught at the Mawuli School and the OLA Girls' Secondary School in the 1980s.
Mr Ansah-Antwi said the party selected a female running mate because it considered women as good managers at home, equally qualified and capable in all spheres, who would be able to bring their motherly way of doing things to bear on the presidency.
He added that the nation was bedevilled with problems, including moral decadence, child labour and abuse because decision makers had failed to put women at the helm of affairs.
Before launching the manifesto, some party executives took time to explain various aspects of it.
The presidential aspirant said the difference between the DFP and the other political parties was that "we have offered practical and realistic solutions to the problems of this country".
He said another difference between the DFP and others was that the DFP manifesto contained what it intended to do when voted into power, not promises and things it could not and did not intend to do.
He said the party would use "Green Revolution", which concentrated on the development of the agricultural sector, as the vehicle for the advancement of the economy.
For instance, he said the DFP would make the national economy an agriculture-led one by applying subsidies in order to boost agricultural production, as was done in America, Malawi, Australia.
Mr Ansah-Antwi said improvement in cocoa production as a result of subsidies, including the application of fertilisers and other chemicals, as well as ready markets, could be replicated in other sectors to achieve desired results.
He said a DFP government would give meaning to Ghana becoming the ICT hub of the West African sub-region by providing the enabling environment for the sector to flourish and assist educational institutions to provide quality ICT training.
He said the party would also establish a national database for the successful implementation of an Integrated Approach Governance.
Mr Ansah-Antwi said the party would turn trash into cash by adding value through the simple, yet logical, process of sorting waste into its component parts (rubber, paper, metals, bio-degradable) for onward processing into other products.
He said those who would separate their waste under a proposed waste management programme would be paid for that.
He said the Green Revolution would be pursued as a real tool to change the fortunes of the people of the northern part of the country within the shortest possible time.
Mr Ansah-Antwi mentioned some of the proposals as a massive afforestation project to check desertification and the perennial floods, the construction of small-scale irrigation schemes and partnering the private sector to put up dredging and drainage facilities to control floods and re-direct the water to feed the Akosombo Dam.
In her acceptance speech, Mrs Ameku said her selection "epitomises the wind of change blowing at every level of human endeavour and also the recognition of the complementary roles women play to help get things done to their fullest".
She called on all women in Ghana to note that the DFP was "a women-saver" and was worth following.
She commended the DFP for being part of the organisations that were crusading for women to be placed at the highest levels of nation building, especially decision making.
"Mainstreaming is very important for women to enable them to exhibit their natural talents and this is exactly what the DFP has demonstrated," Mrs Ameku said.
Credit : Daily Graphic via www.africanelections.org
No comments:
Post a Comment