General News of 2013-03-17

Gov’t must champion the national agenda – Kufuor

Former President John Kufuor has charged government to rise above partisan politics and champion the national agenda.

According to him, public policies in the Agricultural sector must target farmers irrespective of their membership to one party or the other.

According to the former President, this will be the only way to expand the country’s agricultural productivity and achieve optimal yields to ensure food security.

Speaking at a high level discussion on the success stories of Ghana and Brazil in fighting hunger and food insecurity in Accra, Mr. Kufuor stated that “we must as a people distinguish between national policy and party manifesto. It’s a consciousness that I believe the entire society must seek to adopt and establish so that on a critical sector like agriculture, government does not go in blocking people from accessing credit.”

He also challenged the country’s universities to serve as watch dogs on government and be vocal in their contribution to national development.

“We must also urge that the intelligentsia of Ghana must also be open eyed and also comment…I believe our universities must contribute a lot more to the debate on economic development.”

According to him, “we hardly hear from them [Universities]. They do all the research…they must come out, criticize government where criticism is due or encourage government.”