By Isaac Arkoh
Cape Coast, Jan. 20, GNA – An Independent Presidential hopeful for the 2024 election, Mr Wilberforce Andrews, has promised a “Golden Age of Agribusiness Revolution” to transform Ghana’s economy when he voted into power.
He said he would leverage on digital technology to work more closely with stakeholders to confront the structural challenge of commercial agriculture.
Specifically, he will focus on innovative financing, proper targeting of inputs, improved extension services, and infrastructure and market accessibility.
Sharing his political vision with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Andrews said any nation that did not give priority to agriculture, food security and youth employment, was nurturing poverty and hopelessness, which had dire socio-economic ramifications.
“Ghana and Africa’s agriculture potentials remain mostly untapped and the factors of joblessness, food-related issues, and low income must all be well addressed to create and promote sustenance,” he said.
Mr Andrews, a Chartered Accountant and Human Rights Activist, is a native of Enyan-Denkyira in the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam District of the Central Region, and a United Nations Ambassador-General of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Touching on other priorities, he said Ghana had had a long-running battle with corruption under many governments and that he would tackle that head on.
He bemoaned Ghana’s stagnating state on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) despite the passage of various laws such as the Right to Information Act, the Witness Protection Act, the bipartisan adoption of the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) by Parliament, and the establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor, and civil society advocacy.
On governance, Mr Wilberforce pledged to discard the ‘winner takes all’ practice that had become problematic under the Fourth Republic with existential threats to the country’s democracy.
“After every election that produced a change in government (from one duopoly to the other), the transition process has been marred by incidents of aggressive takeovers of government institutions, businesses, and properties by foot soldiers and party vigilantes associated with the newly constituted government,” he said.
“Public servants, ministers, deputy ministers and presidential staffers are fiercely chased out like enemies, and those in the stewardship of state property are pursued like armed robbers. Heads of public institutions, together with their boards, are not spared.”
He indicated that he had the wherewithal and a competent team to lead the country to generate the needed income to ensure prosperity for all.
“I have the welfare of citizens at heart and will ensure everyone has his or her fair share of the national cake to improve livelihoods and create jobs and wealth for all.”
GNA