Kennedy Agyapong, a presidential aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has announced that should he secure victory in the party’s internal elections and subsequently assume the presidency, he intends to relocate the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to Tamale in the Northern Region. He emphasised that his administration would prioritise vegetable cultivation in the north, with plans to export produce directly to European markets via the Tamale Airport.
According to Agyapong, this strategy forms part of a broader vision to reduce Ghana’s dependence on financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Speaking during a campaign interview on Spear FM in the Savannah Region, the businessman and former Member of Parliament for Assin Central remarked, “If we can address unemployment effectively, we won’t need individuals who believe their academic credentials entitle them to seek loans from the IMF and World Bank.”
“Anytime you go to the IMF for loans, it means you have failed your people. If you go to the World Bank for loans, you have failed your people.” He further suggested that a huge investment in agriculture is one of the surest ways to provide jobs for the youth and also to develop the economy.
“I think we can use the lands here for agriculture and the value chain for the agro-processing industry. This is what we have to focus on in this country. “There are so many things we can do. What I want to do for the people in the North is to move the Ministry of Agriculture to Tamale, the Northern Region.
“I am also thinking about one more ministry that I will move to the North. Why the Agriculture Ministry in Tamale is that Tamale is the centre. We are going to produce a lot of vegetables and export them to the European market. From Tamale to London is about five hours, so by the time the British wake up in the morning, all our pineapples, carrots and vegetables are on their market. This is how we are going to free ourselves from the IMF and the World Bank.”
Source: Laud Nartey