At 65 and enjoying a very comfortable life, one would wonder why Hackman Owusu Agyemang, MP for New Juaben North and former cabinet Minister is seeking the mandate of the NPP to contest the presidential election of December, 2008.

The response of Hackman, affectionately called the "Action Man", is that he is hungry to move Ghana to greater heights falling on his wealth of experience as a very successful United Nations Official and an equally successful Cabinet Minister.

As a man of conviction, he consistently tells those who are to hear that the success he has chalked at the international and national levels will be replicated if he becomes president of Ghana.

"We will pursue an aggressive job creation programme through the private sector and encourage balanced consumption to spur the economy", he added.

According to the Gye Nyame Concord, this job creation credo is the centre-piece of his philosophy of wealth creation and shared prosperity.

As a very successful business man, Hackman knows his onions in matters of fighting poverty through job creation.

A practical example of this philosophy is the Hackman Foundation at Oyoko which focuses on helping the youth o acquire skills in income generating activities such as dress making and poultry farming.

As a tried and proven agriculture economist, Hackman's vision of Ghana's agricultural sector is anchored on adding value to our primary commodities by establishing food processing factories.

This dovetails into Hackman's broader economic vision of giving the manufacturing sector the boost.

"We shall positively encourage the manufacturing sector and the assembly of most items from dog chains through to agricultural produce ... we shall seek to re-establish a car assembly plant as a matter of urgency. It is my conviction that the engineering and production capacity of Ghana is of age," he declared during the formal launch of his campaign at Oyoko near Koforidua in the Eastern Region.

Hackman's low tolerance for corruption is legendary, according to the paper.

And those who know him at the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Water Resources, Works and Housing have fond memories of his near obsession with transparency.

The endemic system of having to pay a bribe to have one's pay cheque prepared was dealt a deadly blow by Hackman's insistence on probity.

"Corruption will be tackled vigorously and all assets declaration by all government appointees, including Directors, must be verifiable and superintended by a bi¬partisan committee of parliament and other regulatory bodies", he stressed in his now famous declaration at Oyoko.

Source: Gye Nyame Concord