By Jones Anlimah
Former President and flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has taken his “building Ghana” tour to the Volta region.
Addressing members of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs in a meeting, former President Mahama said resuscitating the economy and creating jobs, especially for the youth, will be two major priorities of the next NDC government should Ghanaians give them their mandate come December 7, 2024.
The engagement with members of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs was part of activities undertaken during a two-day “building Ghana” tour to the Volta region.
The NDC Presidential Candidate was accompanied by some National and Regional Officers of the Party as well as party stalwarts.
The Vice President of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs, Togbe Patamia Dzekle, commended former President Mahama for his gesture towards victims of the Akosombo flood disaster. He called on politicians to undertake their campaigns in decorum and decency.
Issues of constitutional review, fight against galamsey, corruption, the discovery of lithium in the country, youth development, improved road networks, and the general development of the Volta region were his focus. “It is an election year and we will like to use this opportunity to remind all players in the field to use decent language on their campaign trails,” Togbe said.
He added, “There are a number of areas in the Constitution that needed to be looked at again to address pertinent issues confronting this country. Our youth may have lost direction because some of us are not laying good foundation for them to build on. When you assume power, we want you to look at that menace well so that we can leave behind a legacy of leaders who will manage this country well after we have left.”
In an address, former President Mahama said the next NDC government will focus on resuscitating the economy, job creation, especially for the youth, making Ghana self-reliant, transparency, fighting corruption, and instituting constitutional review processes.
He also assured the Chiefs and for that matter the people of the region that all projects abandoned by the current government will be continued and completed to enhance the socio-economic development of the region under the next NDC government.
“The main focus for us will be the economy. That is resuscitating and consolidating the economy because that affects everything else we talk about. If you don’t have a buoyant economy growing then nothing else works properly. The next priority will be to create jobs to make sure that we stimulate the private sector put investments in places and ways that will create job expansion for our numerous young people to have work to do,” Former President Mahama noted.
Former President Mahama threw highlights on and updated members of the house on his proposed 24-hour economy policy.
“Government is the biggest spender in the economy. Government buys the most goods and services in our economy. If government says that we will give preferential purchase to companies that are working 24 hours, if they are making soap or cooking oil or whatever they are producing, government will buy their items first and it’s only when they are not available that hey will buy from others. If you give them preferential market share it will encourage a lot of businesses to sign onto the 24 hour economy,” he added.
He continued, ” I have studied how it is done in several places and as I speak we have a team that has come up with a concept paper on the 24 hour economy. We are going to build it as a policy and we will roll it out before this election so that Ghanaians know what it contains because it’s something that we want to hit the grounds running with.”
The NDC flag bearer and his entourage also attended a town hall meeting at the Ho Technical University and interacted with students at the St. Francis College of Education at Hohoe through a Campus Connect programme.
