Murtala Mohammed
The Director of the Policy Coordination Unit of the Ministry of Information, Nana Damoah, has described as surprising, claims by some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that their party should be credited for securing the land at Ekumfi in the Central Region on which the first factory under the One-District, One-Factory will be located.
According to him, when the New Patriotic Party (NPP), prior to the 2016 polls, proposed the idea of establishing a factory in each of the districts across the country, the NDC attempted to discredit that policy by indicating that it was not feasible, therefore, it is astonishing how the main opposition party now wants to claim credit for its establishment.
His comments come after the former Deputy Minister of Trade under the Mahama administration, Murtala Mohammed, indicated that the land was acquired by the previous government. According to Mr Murtala, credit must be given to the previous administration for the role played.
Government has announced that the president will be launching the One-District, One-Factory policy at Ekumfi Eyisam District in the Central Region and construct a fruit processing factory at the place; the first under the programme.
In a statement, a youth group in Ekumfi described the decision to construct the factory there as “gratifying and fulfilling”.
The factory, when constructed, will process fruits like pineapples for both the local and international markets.
But speaking in an interview with Class 91.3FM’s Valentina Ofori-Afriyie on the 505 programme on Tuesday, August 22, Mr Murtala said: “The land was secured through the Regional Coordinating Council, the District and the Central Regional Development Commission.
“The Central Regional Development Commission is like SADA. It is to ensure that poverty is reduced in the region because statistically, the Central Region is the 4th poorest region in Ghana apart from the three northern regions. And so credit must be given to whom credit is due.”
Reacting to Mr Murtala’s comments in an interview on Class 91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Wednesday, August 23, Mr Damoah said: “A factory has been established and that factory was established under the auspices of this government under the idea of One-District, One-Factory which they (NDC) opposed to, which they said it was impossible, which they said cannot be done, which they said was 419, which they said all sort of negative things about.
“Today, what we are seeing is that a lot of interest is coming from foreign governments, from international governmental institutions and from even local entrepreneurs. The first of it has been built and we are going to launch it.
“And so what is this hullabaloo about? I don’t understand where all that is coming from, it is a huge surprise.”
He added: “At the end of the day what matters is the fact that a factory has been built. Claiming credit for things should not be our focus, our focus should be the impact of this on the lives of people that this project affects.”
