Former Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, in his address launching his flagbearership campaign last night took subtle jabs at the government he has been an active part of for the better part of six years.
Despite lauding the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for laying a strong foundation on which he intends to build his future government, should he be elected, Mr Kyerematen also made certain pronouncements that appear as subtle attacks directed at the government in which he served.
Below are six of such statements made by the veteran politician last night:
I believe there are things that could have been done differently
Even though Mr. Kyerematen praised the Akufo-Addo regime for laying a solid foundation which is set to lead to massive economic development in the future, he was also quick to point out that he is of the conviction that things could have been done differently.
“The President has laid a strong foundation for the socioeconomic development of our country, although I believe there are things that could have been done differently. My vision is to build a superstructure on this foundation that will bring prosperity to our nation,” he stated.
We promised never to go back but we have gone back to IMF
In delivering his address last night, Mr. Kyerematen knowingly or otherwise provided massive ammunition to the opposition NDC when he admitted that the NPP promised never to go back for IMF support only to end up doing exactly that.
“This is the seventeenth time that we have gone to the IMF over the last 57 years. We promised never to go back but we have gone back.One of the lessons that we have learnt from the recent developments is that Ghana’s economy is still fragile, vulnerable and susceptible to both external and domestic shocks”.
Words without actions
Mr. Kyerematen in diagnosing Ghana’s situation described the leadership of the country as being all talk and no action.
“Ghana is gradually becoming a NATO country – “No Action Talk Only”. We need to remember that the use of time is a zero-sum game. What Ghana needs now are solutions and actions not debates,” he noted.
Cutting the size of government
Just as has been espoused by former President Mahama in recent times, Mr. Kyerematen pledged to downsize government by scrapping some ministers and merging others, a clear dig at the Akufo-Addo government which has been noted as the biggest in Ghana’s fourth republic.
“The architecture of Government will be overhauled by consolidating some existing Ministries, Departments and Agencies. This will mean running a lean Government structure that will ensure operational efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of Government services,” he stated.
Source: GhanaFeed.Com
