‘Political thieves’ raid IDIF secretariat

The national Secretariat of the ‘One District, One Factory (1D1F)’ flagship programme, introduced by the Akufo-Addo government, has been raided by some suspected thieves.

Daily Guide has been informed that the thieves ransacked the office of the 1D1F located at Cantonment in Accra at dawn on Wednesday, November 7, 2018, and made away with some important documents and equipment.

The National Coordinator of 1D1F, Gifty Ohene-Konadu, said she received a call in the early hours of Wednesday when the incident was reported to her.

The issue has, however, been reported to the police who have begun investigation and assessing the number of items stolen.

Sources said the equipment allegedly stolen from the facility included laptops, desktops and television sets. Personnel of the Ghana Police Service were called to the Secretariat to conduct investigations into the alleged criminality.

Strangely, soldiers were at the gate providing security for the office when the thieves raided the place.

A senior security officer who spoke to DAILY GUIDE yesterday on condition of anonymity said the theft could have been politically motivated.

According to the security capo, the suspected thieves could have been sent to the premises apparently by political opponents of the ruling party to cart away vital documents in order to steal ideas for their own use.

President Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) promised Ghanaians in their 2016 Manifesto that they were going to spearhead the establishment of at least one factory in each of the over 200 districts across Ghana.

On October 9, 2018, Information Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, told journalists that about 18 factories under the 1D1F initiative had been accredited and ready to begin operations.

According to him, “an additional 50 are expected to be accredited before the end of this year, and this will bring to almost 70 the number of 1D1F projects by the end of 2018.”

The accredited factories, including B5 Plus Company Limited’s $80 million metal factory at Afienya in the Greater Accra Region, he said, were going to be spread across the Central, Eastern, Ashanti, Northern and Greater Accra regions.

On January 13, 2013, the initiative was given a major boost, with the commissioning of a $77.26 million Twyford Ceramics factory by the President at Shama District of the Western Region.

A day after the raid, the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, reiterated government’s commitment to the achievement of the 1D1F programme which has apparently become a ‘threat’ to some persons from the other side of the political divide.

She urged women entrepreneurs at a day’s seminar yesterday in Accra to support the execution of the programme, saying the ‘One District, One Factory’ is not just a slogan, it is a reality.