By Benjamin Akoto
Sampa, (B/R), Nov. 22, GNA – The various Parliamentary Candidates (PCs) contesting in Election 2024 in the Jaman North Constituency of the Bono Region have affirmed their commitment to improving the price of cashew if they win the parliamentary seat on December 7.
The PCs gave the commitment when they took turns to highlight their visions for the electorate at a parliamentary debate organised by the Jaman North District Director of the National Commision for Civic Commission (NCCE) at Sampa, a cashew producing town in the constituency.
They include Frederick Yaw Ahenkwah of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), also the incumbent MP for the area, Mr Martin Kwame Antwi, candidate for the New Force Movement.
Mr Enoch Nyarko, PC for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was absent at the debate which provided an opportunity for the PCs to interact and share their visions with the constituents.
According to Mr Ahenkwah, the NDC PC, a regulation was required to set a standard price for cashew and asked the Tree Crop Development Authority (TCDA) to push for such regulation.
He noted that the nation’s cashew revenue was gradually surpassing that of cocoa, underscoring the need for that regulation for the benefit of farmers.
Mr Ahenkwah said the next NDC government had plans to establish a Cashew Marketing Board to enhance the growth and development of the cashew sector for the nation to derive optimum benefits.
In his view, Mr Antwi, the candidate for the New Force Movement, noted that improved prices of cashew would well position farmers to plant more and improve productivity, and attract many of the employed youth to engage cashew farming as a business.
He said with the establishment of a Cashew Board, children of cashew farmers would access educational scholarship, and stressed his readiness to push for the establishment of the Board when elected as the MP.
Earlier in a welcoming address, Mr Oscar Kwabena Donkor, the Jaman North District Director of the NCCE cautioned the PCs and political parties against voting buying, which remained inimical to the growth of the nation’s democracy.
He urged the electorate there to analyse the policies of the PCs and political parties to enable them to make informed decisions on December 7.
Mr Donkor urged everybody to help stem the spread of misinformation and disinformation by verifying or cross-checking information before spreading it.
The discussions were centered on education, employment, health, roads, economy and agriculture.
GNA