allAfrica.com: Ghana: Dr. Nduom Dares Prof. Mills & Akufo Addo (Page 1 of 1)

The presidential candidate of the Convention Peoples Party, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom says Ghana's next president must be an issue-driven president with a sense of urgency to implement programmes and not just talking about them.

He said on December 7, Ghanaians will not see the picture of Jerry Rawlings on the ballot papers, neither will they see those of President John Agyekum Kufuor and Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. The pictures will be those of Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, Prof. John Evans Attah Mills, Nana Akufo Addo and Dr. Edward Mahama, and that each of them should be judged on the basis of personal achievements in business and politics.

He has thus thrown an open challenge to the other presidential candidates, notably, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills of the NDC and Nana Akufo Addo of the NPP to meet him face to face to debate pertinent development issues affecting the country's development.

Dr. Nduom might not debate Dr. Edward Mahama of the PNC because of a supposed electoral alliance that might have Dr. Mahama as a running to him.

But Dr. Mahama, on Wednesday refused to either confirm or deny the alleged electoral agreement with CPP. "I will not say anything about the speculations ....At the appropriate time the PNC and Dr Mahama will make our positions clear... I assure you that it will not be too long," Dr Mahama told the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

Dr. Nduom threw the challenge at the first in the series of "An Evening Encounter with the Presidential Aspirants" put together by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) under the Ghana Political Parties Programme. The IEA hoped that the 'Encounter' would divert political discourse from one of acrimony and personality attacks to an issue based debate, much in line with the kind of president Dr. Nduom wants Ghana to have in January 2009.

To set the tone for the programme, Mrs. Jane Mensah of the IEA lamented that the same infrastructure Ghana had for six million people at independence was still being used by a population of more than 20 million, with some marginal improvements. Besides, she lamented that 50 years after independence, Ghana continues to award mining concessions to multinational companies, whose operations only benefit their countries. "How long can we continue this kind of development", she wondered and added that Ghana has great options o make this year.

Accepting the challenge Dr. Nduom said the campaign should not just be about the "noise, the songs, the dances and which party can bus huge crowds to rallies. We must show that we are ready to administer the affairs of the country from day one when we assume office as the next president of the Republic of Ghana."

He appealed to the other candidates to engage in politics of ideas and form a government of inclusion using the best people to create a just and caring society. Above all, the next president must have "a great sense of urgency to implement solutions so that our people can benefit soon."

So what vision does Dr. Nduom have for the country? He says his vision is to create 'a just and disciplined society with a passion for excellence with a per capita income of at least $5,000 in the next five to ten years." This, he says will be accompanied by broad-based improvements in social indicators such as infant mortality rates, maternal mortality, life expectancy and enrollment rates for both boys and girls throughout the country. What a vision that would be if implemented. Remember we had 'vision 2020 by the NDC and vision 2015 by the NPP. Are these near anywhere achieving their aims?

Well, the next test for Dr. Nduom would be how to implement his vision and ensure it does not gather dust as the previous visions. He says for the goals to be achieved, a CPP government led by him will accelerate industrialization and the development of Ghana's human capital.

Poverty was constantly on the lips of Dr. Nduom as he outlined his strategy to move the country forward. Indeed, he, as other politicians seeking to become president of Ghana in the past identified poverty as the single biggest enemy Ghana faces and identified "Food poverty, income poverty, housing poverty, education poverty" as the different faces of poverty. Dr. Nduom sees access to equitable education, housing and health, as the way forward.

"I am totally focused on promoting economic growth and social equity. Education has proven to be an equalizing factor throughout the world. Developed countries have used education as a means of accelerating economic and social growth", says, Dr. Nduom

Perhaps, worried about the escalating prices of food, Dr. Nduom pointed out that it is important for Ghanaians to recognize that governments all over the world are taking bold steps to protect food stocks. "We should recognize that governments around the globe are not just standing by to watch the markets do as they please in the interest of the private sector operators alone. They are intervening on behalf of their people." For that reason he said, if he became president, he would implement ten policies to ensure food sovereignty. Chief among the ten polices are ' to ensure the state's positive intervention in food production to promote increased investment, research and application of results, storage and distribution, including strategic stock management. The other is the retention of the Agricultural Development Bank as a Ghanaian-owned financial institution to ensure it goes back to its original mission of financing agricultural modernization.

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