CPP To Ensure Ghana Regains Past Glory - Sakara

“To be able to regain our past glory, our institutions must work again for all of us and not just for a few people, we must also settle for quality and not mediocrity in doing things”he stressed.

Dr Sakara pledged to promote the concept of continuity to ensure that the country’s development agenda was not toyed with as governments come and go.

“I would make sure that crossing that magic rubicon that has eluded past governments is done”he noted.

In response to a question on strengthening the National Development Planning Commission,Dr Sakara recommended that a National Development Plan would be reviewed to ensure that it addressed the fundamental question of changing the structure of the economy. He intimated that there was no empirical evidence to show that the implementation of a National Development Plan could change the structure of the economy.

He said he would ensure that a National Development Plan addressed issues of social justice by empowering women and also promoting free primary and secondary education.

He stressed the need for what he termed a balanced economy while ensuring that leaders and duty bearers accounted for their stewardship.

In a rebuttal to the divergent submissions by both President John Mahama and Nana Akufo-Addo, Dr Sakara pointed out that there was enough evidence to show that democracy had a way of interrupting the process of continuity and to avert the National Development Plan must be enshrined in the Constitution.

He further explained that if the decentralisation policy was made to work effectively,development would trickle down to the various districts in a well-planned manner. Additionally,the nation must reward efforts and not punish people for doing the right things.

Responding to the challenges confronting the nation regarding insufficient tax revenue and what to do to ensure that the nation got most out of her taxes, Dr Sakara pointed out that growing the economy was key to getting enough taxes.

“In the first place, you cannot collect what is not there” he added.

He noted that putting in place austerity measures only made fewer people to pay taxes.

“As a remedy the taxes must be collected in smaller amounts by using local based people or through local associations and peer groups”.

Additionally, he said duty-bearers must ensure that the taxes collected were used to provide quality services. In other words,he said market places must be kept clean by ensuring that waste disposal was properly managed so that people would have confidence in the system as they were enjoined to pay taxes.

He also stated that the completion of the National Identification System was key to check the issue of tax evasion.

When asked to explain what he meant by collecting taxes in smaller amounts, Dr Sakara drew an analogy saying “as it is now tax rates are calculated for shop owners and market women for instance without taking into consideration their turn over rates”.

He observed that such a situation encouraged people to evade tax.

Touching on how best to ensure that agriculture did not lose its strategic importance in the national economy, the CPP Presidential hopeful was of the opinion that the discovery of oil in the country should rather be used to grow agriculture.

In that regard, he noted that under his watch, oil revenue would be used to address issues of post harvest losses as well as introduce a new sugarcane plantation.

“We must use the oil resources in a targeted way and I will also ensure that the railway system works”he stated.

According to him,there was the need to control water and ensure that the country’s channels wasted water into productive ventures in agriculture.

“At the moment, the country loses two million cubic meters of water every 10 seconds and this is not good for the country” he pointed out.

He said his vision was to transform agriculture and ensure that the sector grew at a faster pace than it was now.

On addressing unemployment, Dr Sakara stated that the economy must grow and develop in new productive areas that would help create jobs.

He emphasised that on retraining school leavers at the junior, senior high and the university levels to fit into the job market.

On addressing the funding gaps that exist in the education sector, the CPP flag bearer stated that continuous education up to the senior high school level was non-negotiable and that there was the need to cut waste in the system at the procurement level and ensure that education funding was prioritised.

On energy, Dr Sakara observed that there was no need to solve energy problems on adhoc basis.

He observed that he would provide the leadership that would ensure that biogas was derived from the sugarcane plantation that he intended to introduce into the agricultural sector.

He equally proposed converting solid waste into energy and also make rubbish collection a key part of an agenda that would ensure that there was no waste in the system.

On health, he suggested that under his administration, he would promote prevention, increase access to health care and break the infrastructural deficit that had bedeviled the sector.

“We need a strong training programme to get more doctors to help reduce infant and maternal mortality;at the last count we had over 5000 trained doctors which is still inadequate” he pointed out.

On debt financing, he proposed a strategic investment that would generate a high rate of returns. In that regard, he advocated the need to invest in agriculture to help change the structure of the economy.

Story: Vincent Amenuveve