Akufo-Addo 'Covers' 1D1F Failure With Old Factories – Sulemana

Alhaji Yusif Sulemana, MP for Bole Bamboi

The Deputy Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Trade and Industry, Alhaji Yusif Sulemana says President Akufo-Addo's government is finding ways to hide the sinking One District One Factory policy by flamboyantly adding already existing factories to a purported list.

The Bole Bamboi lawmaker, who is not happy about the status of implementation of the programme which formed a major part of the campaign promise of the president in opposition, indicated in an interview with Modernghana that the 1D1F program was failing.

According to him, the poor state of the Ekumfi pineapple factory after the sod cutting ceremony is an indication of a failed1D1F programme.

“If you want to ascertain the status of the 1D1F factories, ask of the status of the Ekumfi factory. The changing completion dates of the factory speak to what is happening to the 1D1F program. If after 28 months of President Nana Addo’s government, the first factory that was initiated is yet to be completed, then we can see why the need to tag companies that have been in existence for years as 1D1F,” he observed.

He added that what is currently happening on the ground is not reflective of the promise the President made to the people and that government has taken the easy option in to deceive the people by copying and pasting the already existing factories.

“After all, it is very easy to offer an existing company, operational support and place a signboard on it with the inscription ONE DISTRICT, ONE FACTORY. But Ghanaians can see through such tricks,” he added.

Government has indicated that there are currently 45 of the planned 181 projects on the drawing board, operational while implementation of a majority of them are set to commence before the end of 2019.

According to Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Robert Ahomka-Lindsay, out of the 181 factories on the drawing board, 52 of them are existing ones while the remaining 129 have been categorized as new.

Meanwhile, Parliament has approved an incentive package for the operators of the 1D1F programme. The beneficiaries are supposed to get tax exemptions and tax holiday periods of up to five years.

Commenting on the tax waiver issue, Alhaji Yusif Sulemana was of the view that the terms given for the waivers were too liberal and too open.

“It was like signing a blank cheque to the beneficiary companies,” he said.