I Will Seek Prosperity For All - Hackman

An NPP presidential aspirant, Mr Hackman Owusu- Agyeman, has underscored the need for a result oriented, hands on practical president who can boldly implement agreed programmes and build on the socio-economic foundations so far laid.

He said that the bane of the country's development paradigm was in our inability to implement agreed programmes, and proposed the establishment of a national development think tank which will be drawn from both political divides, academia, and other identifiable institutions to brainstorm and come forward with a home grown programme that all Ghanaians can identify with.

Mr Hackman, who describes himself as the man to take over the baton and lead NPP to victory in election 2008 was speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra on his chances during the forthcoming NPP special congress.

He said that when elected president of the country he would seek to bring greater prosperity to all Ghanaians, protect their security and strengthen the foundations of the country's democracy.

He said that he strongly believed in an equitable and shared prosperity between the rural and urban areas, the north and the south, the east and the west.

He said it was his conviction that delegates would elect him flag bearer of the party and thereby win the main election in 2008.

In the pursuit of his development objectives he said that he would rapidly grow the economy to reduce poverty and increase the productivity and incomes of farmers, providing better incentives to businesses, diversifying the economy and investing in transport, telecommunications and energy to increase competitiveness.

Expanding employment opportunities for the youth, Mr Hackman said, remained a top priority as well as investing in human development and making healthcare and education the birthright of every Ghanaian child.

"We must provide equal opportunities to all our people regardless of gender or ethnicity. We must target our underprivileged regions and communities to reduce poverty.

And we must protect our environment and natural resources to ensure the future security of the nation", he said.
By strengthening the foundations of our democracy, Mr Owusu-Agyeman said that Ghana could ensure the economic prosperity and security of the nation.

This, he said, would also mean protecting human rights, safeguarding the independence of the judiciary as well as the role of parliament and multi-party democracy.

This, he further said, implied improving the effectiveness of state institutions such as the civil service, the security service as well as the financial and regulatory systems such as the central bank, ports and customs administration, land registries, among others.

He said that the hallmark of the pursuit of good governance should be vigorously sustained to fight against corruption.