Aggudey Blames Economic Difficulties On Overthrow Of Nkrumah

The presidential candidate of the Convention People's Party (CPP),Mr George Aggudey, has blamed governments after Dr Kwame Nkrumah for abandoning viable projects initiated by Dr Nkrumah to create a self-reliant economy and provide employment for the vast majority of Ghanaians.

“Governments that have managed Ghana after the overthrow of Dr Nkrumah cannot absolve themselves of the present decadent state of the economy and the social conditions of the people, since they neglected the numerous projects embarked upon by the regime which were intended to put the economy on a stable and sustained footing and transform the living conditions of the people,” he said.

A statement issued in Accra by the party quoted Mr Aggudey as saying this when he visited a number of communities in the Greater Accra Region to articulate the vision of the CPP and also learn from the people the problems bedevilling the development of those areas and their well-being.

Some of the communities are Akuse, Asutsuare, Dodowa, Afienya, Sukura, Zabrama Line, Banana Inn and Ada. According to the statement, the CPP flagbearer noted that the failure of governments after 1966 to continue with the unfinished works of Dr Nkrumah had resulted in the current economic and social situation in which “ hopelessness and despair stare the ordinary Ghanaian”.

“If successive governments after Nkrumah had not exhibited their hatred towards whatever Nkrumah stood and fought for and had completed projects initiated by him, the country would not have been saddled with the present high level of employment,” the statement said.

It said if past governments had concentrated on and expanded the projects spelt out in the Seven-Year Development Plan of the CPP, the rural communities of Ghana would have been transformed into centres of industrial and manufacturing concerns which,invariably, would have provided employment and reduced the migration of the people, especially the able-bodied youth, to the urban centres to seek non-existent white collar-jobs.

The statement said the collapse of indigenous projects, such as the Asutuare Sugar Factory and others in the Greater Accra Region and elsewhere in the country, made redundant thousands of workers and thereby created dislocations and frictions within families.

“The country is reaping the results of the bad choices that past governments made by either abandoning or selling such viable state institutions without any pragmatic alternatives that could cushion the social and economic problems of the people,” the statement said.

It said Mr Aggudey called on activists of the party to intensify their mobilisation efforts to attract more members into the party to ensure a landslide victory in the December elections.