The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says his government will establish a factory in all 216 districts of Ghana.

This, he said, is part of plans to industrialise and transform the Ghanaian economy.

Akufo-Addo gave this assurance on day 3 of his 5-day tour of the Ajumako/Enyan/Essiam, Mfantseman and Abura/Asebu/Kwamankese constituencies in the Central Region, Saturday, June 18. 

According to him, when these factories are set up across the country, not only will they kick-start the accelerated industrialization of Ghana’s economy, but it will also result in the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs.

This is consistent with an earlier pledge by Nana Akufo-Addo while on his tour of the Volta Region, on May 21, where he announced the establishment of Industrial Zones in the Ketu North and Ketu South districts when voted into office.

However, to achieve this the NPP flag bearer said Ghana’s current broken monetary and fiscal systems, presided over by the Mahama government, would have to be fixed.

He took a dig at the current administration for the mess in which Ghana’s economy finds herself which he said is evident in the rising cost of living, skyrocketing levels of inflation, high bank lending/interest rates, and hikes in petroleum.

These and more according to him have left Ghanaians reeling from unprecedented levels of hardships and suffering.

“The only way to free ourselves from the shackles of poverty is by fixing our monetary system. If we are to do this, our monetary system must be stable and strong. This is the only way we can empower Ghanaians. We want to help the private sector to flourish, and we will help establish factories in every district to help create jobs for the people,” he said.

Nana Akufo-Addo assured that this policy of setting up one factory per district is doable, and urged Ghanaians not to be hoodwinked by the usual propaganda of “they can’t do it” and “it is not possible.”

The NPP flagbearer recounted how President Mahama debased policies the NPP had rolled out both in 2008 and in 2012, only for him to turn around later to copy them and ended up failing woefully to execute them.

“Two of such policies were the ‘Free SHS’, and the setting up of the Northern Development Authority. President Mahama told Ghanaians that these two policies were not possible, only for him to win power and try to implement them, albeit in total implementation failure”, he explained

Nana Akufo-Addo said just like the Kuffour administration development the country without any discrimination, his government is coming to create jobs for all Ghanaians without any one district being discriminated against. 

He criticised the selectivity in the mass cocoa spraying exercise and the partisan nature of the distribution of cocoa seedlings under the Mahama government. 

“Ghana, a country once described as the Gold Coast, is poverty-ridden. It is bad governance that makes us poor. We can put in place policies to create jobs, and bring relief to farmers, traders and business owners,” he added.

He urged the Central Region to have faith in the ability of Ghana to provide the needs of its citizens, adding that “good times can come to Ghana, and good times will come to Ghana.”

“I am into politics to use the knowledge and God has given me to help transform the fortunes of our country. I want you to give me a try this year. Trust me, and I assure you that I will not disappoint you” he said.