Marshal Plan for devt of the north - Owusu-Ankomah

Tamale, Aug. 8, GNA - Papa Owusu-Ankomah, one of the presidential aspirants of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has pledged to draw up a Marshal Plan for the development of the three northern regions if elected as the party's presidential candidate and eventually President of the country.

He said northern Ghana was lagging behind the south in terms of development although it had immense potential in agriculture and said what was needed was a marshal plan to invest in the area. Papa Owusu-Ankomah was interacting with the Northern Regional executive of the NPP during a visit to the party's office in Tamale on Tuesday.

Papa Owusu-Ankomah, who is the Member of Parliament for Sekondi, said governments had tried to improve agriculture in the north by investing in the construction of dams but this had not yielded good results.

He said under a Marshal Plan he had envisaged, attention would be shifted to the construction of small-scale irrigation dams suitable for all-season farming and for the cultivation of vegetables. The NPP presidential aspirant described himself as "a man of vision" who had the qualities to inspire the youth and lead the NPP to victory in the 2008 general election.

"I am the team leader who can unite the NPP and the country for now and the future. I am the one who can re-energise and galvanize the party to victory", he said.

He said he had the experience in government to run the affairs of the country, having served in several ministerial positions with distinction.

"When I am elected the presidential candidate of the NPP and eventually the President of Ghana, I would create the enabling environment to let every individual to realise his/her potential no matter were he/she comes from".

Papa Owusu-Ankomah disagreed that certain regions were "no-go areas" for some of the NPP presidential aspirants saying, "as far as I am concerned, I have even encouraged my constituency to receive all the presidential aspirants and accord them equal respect".