Alan Kyerematen could have done better with One District, One Factory – Spio-Garbrah

Former Minister for Trade and Industry, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah says the One District One Factory project would have been better executed if it was put under the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

He says it is about time people who can deliver are allowed to get the job done in Ghana.

“Had they given that project to my good friend Alan Kyerematen in the Ministry of Trade and Industry I’m sure he would have known what to do," Spio-Garbrah noted in an interview adding that "this is probably internal NPP politics where sometimes in Ghana we don’t want people who are capable of doing something to be given the chance to do it”.

Taking his turn on ’21 minutes with KKB’, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah noted that putting the project under the Office of the President, with Ministry of Special Development Initiative having direct oversight of it was not the best.

“One District One Factory is under the Office of the President and I believe it was put under the specific oversight of Hawa Koomson. I think it’s the same ministry that had the 800,000 website story so quite clearly there wasn’t much happening in that ministry and everyone was confused.”

He added that neither a policy framework, business module nor financial module guiding the execution of the project is readily available at the One District One Factory office leaving one to wonder how the whole project is being undertaken.

“Most Ghanaians thought the government would come and make sure that there is one district one factory in each district but how they will do that is the business module nobody knows, the financial module nobody knows. People have gone to the one district one factory office in cantonments and asked them for the policy framework, for the business module financial module and there is nothing there.”

Ekwow Spio-Garbrah is of the view that the NPP government has wasted the time of Ghanaians with the One District One Factory project for one year.