The Deputy Minister-designate for Trade and Industry and outgoing presidential spokesperson, Mahama Ayariga, has stated that if the opportunity arises again, he will purchase a few more tractors in addition to the ones he purchased. According to him, the tractors he acquired from the Agric ministry, was to enable underprivileged farmers cultivate food stuffs for a lot of Ghanaians. “If there are tractors for sale again and I have money to go and deposit for them, if I can deposit for 10, 15 or 20 and send them to most deprived regions which……I will continue to do what I can to support the poor farmers to access tractor services,” he stated. Speaking in an interview on CitiFM, Mr. Ayariga stated that “a group of people had gone all the way by trying to malign and undermine the integrity of someone who had made personal sacrifices in order that poor farmers, who by themselves, cannot afford to purchase tractors, are able to access tractor services,” he said. “Tractors are not Chrysler vehicles, Mercedes Benz, or BMW cars; they are meant for ploughing fields for farming and for cultivating of foods”, he stressed. According to the former Presidential Spokesperson, since Ghanaians have been singing about poverty and violence in the North, and as widely accepted that the devil finds work for the idle hand, he had to venture into productive ventures by providing tractors for underprivileged farmers. “I am the one who has bought tractors and made them available to famers in the northern parts of this country,” he told Citi FM, and mentioned the Upper East, Upper West, Northern and Central Regions as the deprived regions which needed such assistance. Mr. Ayariga also accused some media houses of providing the platform for people “to just misinform the public and trying to destroy the reputation of individuals.” “People move from radio station to radio station and try to malign me. Are they against the people of the north having access to tractors because I had sent them to the North? What is their problem?” He asked. “At the end of the day, we have seen who the liars are, those who are clearly trying to subvert a process of progress in the North,” he said. He was apparently referring to the ruling by the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) that he was innocent of the charges of wrong doing in the purchase of tractors from the Ministry of Agriculture. The Commission said it could not find adverse facts against the former Presidential Secretary. The Progressive Nationalist Forum (PNF) dragged Ayariga to CHRAJ, arguing he inappropriately abused his office and bought tractors that he was not entitled to. The forum claimed the tractors acquired by Mahama Ayariga formed part of some 2000 tractors and their accessories procured by the government of Ghana for underprivileged farmers across the country to boost food production and security in the country. But after examining all the evidence provided by the PNF and Ayariga, CHRAJ said it came to the conclusion that Mr. Ayariga did not violate any regulations, neither was there any shred of evidence to substantiate the allegations against him. “How many of those underprivileged farmers can afford ¢180million to buy one single tractor?” he asked. Source: Peacefmonline.com