Independent presidential candidate, Dr Sam Ankrah, has outlined some of his policies for Ghana when given the clear run to be president.
In his latest interview with GhanaWeb's Daniel Oduro on The Lowdown, Dr Ankrah revealed his reason for going independent highlighting the country's problems and how he will manage Ghana's debt deficit.
He explained that the main problem the country faces stems from the government's inability to manage state funds.
"...You do not spend what you don't have. You cut your coat according to your size. Our government's expenditure is not sustainable. We're spending too much more than we are earning and that is not prudent in economies so we will cut waste and cost of government...minimum 50%," he said.
Dr. Ankrah also emphasized that his main target will be to reduce the size of government drastically and offload what he described as "the idle private sector". In his view, most government officials are idle but the country borrows money to pay them.
"Cost of government, we will cut it. Reduce government size drastically like I said, 20 ministers cut across. We will offload the idle private sector. Here we are, we have government corporations sitting idle and we go to the capital markets to borrow money to pay salaries and recurring expenditures...what economy are we building? It's not done anywhere."
The presidential aspirant also detailed his plans to curb the unemployment rate in the country by creating incubation centers and apprenticeship programs for young graduates where they can understudy professionals. A repeated cycle of this can reduce the rate of unemployment.
"Ghanaian teachers are well sought after in England, why are we not taking advantage? train a lot more teachers, take them out of the country for foreign exchange, and train more nurses, again Ghanaian nurses are sought after in Europe, America, and Canada. Train them, push them, and get returns for them. I was even told recently that Ghana's Military is well sought after by the United Nations Peacekeeping. Why do we put a quota on our military intake? ....Let's have proper thinking and deliberate policies that will turn the lifestyles of our youth around". He told GhanaWeb on his submission on Ghana's youth policy.
Dr. Sam Ankrah also spoke extensively on his manifesto which he called "A contract with Ghanaians" where he details how his administration promises to take care of the Ghanaians from when they are 18 years old.
See the full interview below:
SS/NOQ
