Democratic Freedom Party organize press soiree

Accra, April 18, GNA - The Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) has said that its core policy when voted into power would be to launch a Green Revolution towards development of the agricultural sector. "The DFP believes that if agriculture is well developed, it is capable of moving this country faster than any other sector, probably except oil which is yet to be drilled".

Mr. Emmanuel Ansah-Antwi, the Flag-bearer of the DFP said this at a Press Soiree organized by the Party for media personnel in Accra on Thursday night. He said there is the need to revisit the issue of subsidies and that a DFP government, when voted into power will surely implement subsidies, by learning from a Malawian experience that defied the advice of the experts and chose the path of subsidizing fertilizer that ensured increased food production.

Mr Ansah-Antwi said the current food shortage that has hit the world only goes to vindicate the party's position that increased food production is crucial to the survival of every nation and so no effort would be spared in achieving such a goal. "Increased agricultural production will also lead to the establishment of agro-processing industries by the DFP government with its concomitant generation of employment for the teeming youth," he added. He said one cannot talk of transparency without being open to the media and as such the Party would have an open door policy with the media and will try within the constraint of time to always give attention to the media and to forge a positive and productive mutual relationship.

Mr. Ansah-Antwi said another area that a DFP government would be looking at is the unbridled liberalization of trade in the country. The policy will be rationalized to allow for the growth of local industry by providing tax incentives to protect them. A DFP government will involve the institution of chieftaincy in the governance process by ensuring that chiefs become part and parcel of local government system and assigning chiefs specific responsibilities such as the registration of births and deaths.

He said since good governance is at the heart of democracy and can only be achieved through the involvement of as many people and institutions as possible in the governance process. The Flag-bearer said since youth unemployment has become the bane of many governments, the DFP under his administration will therefore engage its attention on job creation to cater for the many school leavers. "The National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), started by the NPP government laudable as it is, will be improved upon to make it more sustainable and attractive than it is presently. More innovative ways of job creation will also be developed such as having youth brigades as well as revamping the Co-operative associations".

Mr Ansah-Antwi said in the area of sanitation, the ordinary Ghanaian households who operate their waste under "zero Waste" management programme would be paid for their sorted waste. "What we should be thinking about is setting about setting up recycling plants in all major cities across the country and running them on commercial ventures. We would then turn 'thrash' to cash, by adding value through the simple yet logical process of sorting waste into its component parts".

The Flag-bearer said another area of concern is energy and the DFP will pursue alternatives to crude oil generating plants and hydro with serious programmes on the use of wind, gas, solar and nuclear energy developed to solve the energy requirements of the country. Mr Affail Monney, Vice President of the Ghana Journalist Association thanked the leadership of the DFP for interacting with the press and promised that all parties would be given equal attention to propagate their manifestoes.

He advised the parties to eschew trading of insults during their campaigns so as not to give room for some of the media to blow out of proportion since the unity of the country is the goal of all.