CPP to Raise the Standard of Living of All Ghanaians – Kwaku Nkansah.

CPP prospective parliamentary candidate for Offinso North and one of the young progressives, Mr Kwaku Nkansah has said that under the CPP administration, the first 4 years would be devoted to pursuing macroeconomic programmes aimed at reducing poverty in Ghana. Mr Nkansah said the programmes will raise the standard of living of all Ghanaians and ensure people are given opportunity to share in the prosperity of the country.

Mr Kwaku Nkansah explained that CPP will re-evaluate the Poverty Alleviation Programme of the current government. He said under the CPP 7 Year Development Plan small scale industries would be given access to credit scheme as well as support them to market their products in international markets. Among the programmes that would form part of the poverty reduction programme include employment directorate and roads and rural infrastructure directorate.

Speaking to this writer from his campaign headquarters in Offinso North constituency, Mr Nkansah said the impact of these programmes would be measured to ensure the poor are benefiting from the macroeconomic policies. He said under the 7 years of the NPP administration, poverty and inequality have worsened. Talking about absolute poverty, Mr Nkansah said, poor housing, poor quality education, unemployment and under employment, especially among the youth and graduates, inadequate health facilities, low life expectancy and income inequality have made the poor in Ghana poorer. He stated that many are unable to meet basic needs.

Mr Nkansah said the level of poverty that affects many Ghanaians is chronic poverty, especially in the 3 northern regions. He explains that under the CPP administration, persistent poverty would be addressed as a matter of urgency. He said, "Under the CPP administration, we will encourage the poor to participate in and significantly benefit from the economic growth of the country. We will promote pro-poor strategy that will reduce high incidence of poverty among the poor”. Mr Kwaku Nkansah said some of the problems he came across on the campaign trail include an absence of income security, poor health and inadequate health care and lack of social support. In one village those left behind are older women, young mothers and children. All the able bodied men have migrated, either to the major metropolis or gone abroad. Kwaku said the exclusion of the old from some of the policies such as micro-credit and low interest loans needs to be addressed. Kwaku explained that most of the elderly people he met have spent much longer periods in poverty because many have no source of income and majority are excluded from the labour market. Kwaku said under the CPP administration no group of people would be excluded from the economy. Kwaku said the CPP government will introduce savings, insurance and mortgage schemes to encourage people to take responsibility for their long term needs.

Mr Kwaku Nkansah said CPP will study various housing policies, including retirement homes for the elderly. Kwaku said female-headed households are always classified among the most vulnerable to poverty, thus this will be taken into account to ensure that the vulnerable are taken care of under the 7 Year Development Plan. Kwaku said, “NPP and NDC have had a combined years of 15 years in government, yet their rhetoric does not match the reality of what they have done”. Kwaku said under Nduom’s presidency “We will pursue programs such as subsidies for low income workers and farmers to buy their own home. We will bring in policies to help uplift the people out of poverty and to empower them participate in the economy”.

Kwaku Nkansah, sounding very emotional, said, “The floods disaster in the 3 northern regions proves a watershed in the debate over poverty because it has exposed the lies of the 2 parties (NPP and NDC) in regards to their policies for the north”. Kwaku said CPP policies (7 Year Development Plan) will improve the prospects of the Ghanaian people over the longer term. We will give the Ghanaian people a say in how the government is run. Kwaku said “Poverty alleviation remains the priority concern of CPP as over 12 million Ghanaians live in poverty and the gap between the top 20% and the bottom 80% is widening. Kwaku explains that, “NPP’s noise of improvements is questionable. Many of the gains they are trumpeting are due to remittances income from nationals abroad rather than in country improvements”.

Mr Nkansah said introduction of progressive reforms, such as CPP 7 Year Development Plan and decentralised local governance is the way forward. Kwaku said CPP would focus development on poverty alleviation by spurring local empowerment and social mobilisation in all the regions.