Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, is promising to pay for the entire cost of printing the albums for the upcoming New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential and parliamentary primaries in all the 276 constituencies.
Mr. Kyerematen, one of the front runners in the NPP presidential race, made this pledge during his official meeting with the new national officers of the party at the NPP headquarters at Asylum Down in Accra last Friday.
In addition, the Trade Minister, who is popularly called Alan Cash, also donated an amount of GH¢100,000 to the party to support the National Executives in the day-to-day administration and management of the activities of the party.
The meeting, which was to interact with the hierarchy of the party in line with solidifying relationships between the party and the government, saw scores of top-ranking officials including MP for Tema West, Carlos Ahenkorah; MP for Bortianor Ngleshie Amanfro, Sylvester Tetteh; former Minister of Tourism, Catherine Afeku; former Director of Communications, Yaw Buabeng Asamoah; former Upper East Regional Minister, Alhassan Samari and Hopeson Adorye, among others.
He appealed to leadership of the party to, indeed, assert their impartiality and provide a level playing field for all prospective candidates in the interest of the party.
Alan Cash also urged the leadership of the party to earn the trust of the grassroots voters by conducting a fair and unbiased election.
He called on the party faithful to rally behind the leadership of the party and government in these trying times.
“We can only break the 8 if we stay together and act as a unit. We can survive through cooperation and commitment to our various duties. The National Executives will organise one of the best National Delegates Conferences in recent years. To this end, I am going to fund the entire printing cost of all 275 constituency delegates’ albums. It is to help the party conduct the election as a patriot myself. A free and fair election will trickle down to the average voter since they won’t feel manipulated or machinated,” Mr. Kyerematen told the party faithful at the headquarters.
Mr. Kyerematen also used the meeting to apprise the party leadership on some key interventions rolled out by the Ministry of Trade and Industry since the year 2017, when he was appointed minister.
He disclosed that his ministry has pursued two major objectives aimed at minimising unemployment and strengthening the Ghanaian economy.
According to him, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has developed a comprehensive programme to fully industrialise Ghana as practiced by developed economies globally.
He asserted that it was not for nothing that the most powerful and developed countries worldwide were also the most industrialised.
Mr. Kyerematen cited specifically amongst others, the revival of existing distressed companies with stimulus packages; introduction of the One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative, diversification of the economy with the introduction of ten new economic anchors, increasing Ghana’s export through the opportunity offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), creation of specialised industrial parks and economic zones to accommodate manufacturing and processing companies, and the creation of an enabling environment for local businesses to thrive, as some interventions by the Ministry of Trade and Industry since 2017.
Moreover, he highlighted other initiatives by his ministry to create sustainable jobs and strengthen the local economy. These included the establishment of over 70 business development centres nationwide in support of small and medium enterprises, state-of-the-art technology centres to build components for industries, the establishment of the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) to provide financial support to small and medium enterprises, and the establishment of assembling plants by global automotive giants such as Toyota, Nissan, Volkswagen, Kia, Peugeot and Hyundai.
Mr. Kyerematen also noted that industrialisation should be prioritised if Ghana were to address its perennial economic challenges of unemployment, high import and inflation.
In a brief welcome address, National Chairman, Stephen Ayesu Ntim, lauded Mr. Kyerematen for his visit and recounted other government appointees who have made similar visits as part of efforts to bridge the gap between party functionaries and government appointees.
Govt Appointees
He reiterated the need for government appointees to collaborate with the party in its bid to present a united front for victory during the 2024 general elections.
The party-government engagement series, Chairman Ntim said, was one of the several initiatives introduced by the current national executives to achieve the aforementioned objective. He noted that other initiatives and interventions such as “Time with Patrons”, “Time with Ambassadors”, “Time with CEOs”, regular meetings with the party’s parliamentary group, among others, are all geared towards enhancing the working relationship between party functionaries and government appointees.
The General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, also lauded Mr. Kyerematen for his visit and the numerous interventions by his ministry.
Kodua Frimpong assured that the leadership of the party would remain neutral, fair and transparent during the party’s presidential and parliamentary primaries in 2023.
Mr. Kyerematen was warmly welcomed by the leadership of the party led by Stephen Ayesu Ntim, National Chairman and Lawyer Justin Kodua Frimpong, General Secretary. Other national officers in attendance were Danquah Smith Buttey, National First Vice Chairman; Rita Talata Asobayire, National Second Vice Chairperson and Alhaji Masawudu Osman, National Third Vice Chairperson, among others.