The flagbearer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, has stepped up his campaign to wrestle the mantle of power from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) come December 2008 when Ghanaians go to the polls to elect a new leader. As a result, the twice-defeated NDC leader has moved on from his ‘I care for you’ house-to-house campaign to meeting the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), managers of the private sector, to reveal to them his vision to make the “Golden Age of Business” a reality for that sector to play its true role as the engine of the economy effectively, if given the chance by Ghanaians to rule this country. The former Vice President of the Republic met members of the Association last Friday at the Accra International Trade Fair Centre, where he took a swipe at the ruling Government and accused President Kufuor and his NPP as those responsible for what he termed the collapse of Ghanaian businesses, which in turn, is negatively affecting the country’s economy. He made reference to last year’s Golden Jubilee Celebration of the country’s independence when, as he alleged, President Kufuor and the NPP government allocated part of contracts to their relatives and friends to import all the supplies such as textiles and others for the celebrations while local industries were neglected to the detriment of the national economy. “I was astonished by the behaviour of our own Government when our Golden Jubilee celebration required simple products such as textiles, flags and similar paraphernalia to be manufactured for the occasion. Instead of providing the resources in a planned manner to our local industry to manufacture over a period, so that we can even showcase such industrial capacity as part of our celebration of independence, the NPP Government rather gave out ridiculous amount of contracts for a few relatives and friends of those in Government to import all the requirement so that their families could get wealthier while textile factories collapse and jobs are lost, he alleged, adding “the excuse that was given was that there was too little time for local industry to meet the requirements when we knew all the time that the Golden Jubilee celebrations were coming.” He noted also that industry in Ghana faces a real crisis even if the NPP Government is not willing to acknowledge it, claiming that in the year of our Golden Jubilee, manufacturing experienced a negative growth of 2.3% while the crisis in industry is also reflected in the contribution of manufacturing to GDP growth in 2007, which stands at -0.2%, adding that the current high level of unemployment is a manifestation of the decline of our industrial sector. Industry in Ghana, he maintained, is being destroyed by personal interests being put above the national interest and by corruption, which adds huge costs that indigenous industry, especially, cannot bear. “Even more seriously, perhaps, local industry is fundamentally undermined by a Government that clearly has no faith in our industry and has allowed our industrial base to be totally eroded in an environment where imported goods reign supreme”, he claimed. According to Prof. Mills, government’s interventions in recent times to support industry have been abused for partisan political purposes, leading to loss of confidence in such efforts pledging that, an Atta Mills-led NDC government will restore credibility of such interventions by basing them on merit. He advised that our economy has to be defined by our industry since industrial growth is imperative, maintaining that the country cannot continue to export primary products whilst importing the bulk of the manufactured products the nation needs. Prof. Mills added that it is the value addition in the production chain that generates new jobs for the growing population and that Ghana should not continue to bear the double agony of instability and deterioration in terms of trade. He thanked the Association for the opportunity to exchange ideas with them on how they can advance the industrial sector in Ghana under an NDC Government from 7th of January 2009 and noted that what he wished to do is to outline some considerations that can form the basis for a common platform with the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI). He added that he was firmly committed to this process of consultation with AGI and other stakeholders in the economy, expressing the optimism that such a process will characterize his approach to policy formulization and implementation. On the recent energy crisis that engulfed the country, Prof. Mills noted that the calamity that has devastated Ghana’s industries was clearly avoidable. He alleged that in May 2007 it was reported that over 33 companies had filed for bankruptcy and thousand of workers had lost their jobs and estimated the annual cost of supplementing the energy needs of corporate Ghana to be at $733 million and commended the industries for their steadfastness in these trying times. Prof. Mills also touched on the present water crisis countrywide and noted that it is having a grievous effect on industries and the economy. “As if that was not enough, we now have a serious water crisis. All these at a time, when we keep being told that our economy is on track. Clearly, our industry’s ability to be competitive had been severely compromised by both the irregular supply and the high and increasing cost of power and other utilities when available”, he maintained. Source: Gye Nyame Concord