Don’t ‘steal’ NDC’s credit for Ekumfi pineapple factory – Murtala

The National Democratic Congress  (NDC) wants the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to credit it for the establishment of a pineapple factory in the Ekumfi District of the Central Region.
According to a former Deputy Trade Minister, Murtala Mohammed, the processes for the establishment of the factory started in 2013 while the NDC was in office.
“In 2013, it was done between CEDECOM. This was something that was established. You can liken it to SADA which is meant to provide jobs and alleviate poverty in the Central Region. The land was secured by CEDECOM through the chiefs so there is nothing the NPP has provided in this so why should they claim credit for something they have not done,” the former Deputy Minister said.
The Minister’s claims come on the back of the announcement that President Nana Addo will cut sod for the construction of the factory as part of the government’s flagship One-District-One-factory programme.
The sod cutting will formally symbolise  the launch of the policy which the NPP believes will actualise Ghana’s industrialization drive.
The lands and the funds for the establishment of the factory have already been secured, according to the government.
This is expected to be the first project of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagship One-District-One-factory programme.
But Murtala Mohammed claims the idea and success of the factory is due to the work the NDC did while in office.
According to him, the NPP should disclose the history of the factory to Ghanaians and credit the NDC for it.
Nana Addo’s vow to Ekumfi
President Nana Akufo-Addo vowed to develop the Ekumfi District in honour of the late President John Evans Atta Mills [a native of the town] when he visited the place.
“Before we competed we were brothers. We were in university together. We were even in the same hall together as well. We were friends till the day he died. I have to do something to show that the friendship we had was not for nothing,” the President said at a durbar at Ekumfi Essakyir in the Ekumfi District during his tour of the Central Region a few weeks ago.
The ‘One District One Factory’ programme is designed to establish at least one viable factory in all 216 districts in Ghana as part of an industrialization drive aimed at providing jobs and transforming the economic fortunes of the country.