Cape Coast South MP celebrates Bakatue festival with Elmina people

Member of Parliament for Cape Coast South Constituency, Kweku Ricketts-Hagan has join the people of Elmina to celebrate the 2017 Edina Bakatue festival, a festival celebrated in Elmina in the central region to mark the beginning of a fishing season.

Celebrated under the theme, "Buy made in Ghana and use made in Ghana products to promote Ghanaian industries", the ranking member on parliamentary select committee on trade and industry who represented the Minority lauded the chiefs and people of Elmina, saying that the theme for this year’s celebration is timely as it’s geared towards promoting Ghanaian products.

"The theme for this year’s Edina Bakatue festival is timely as it comes at such a time when major factories in the central region are going through difficult times. I must commend the people Elmina for the coming up with such a theme,"

The Cape Coast South lawmaker speaking to journalists at the festival celebration charged the Ministry of Tourism to leverage on the theme to promote made in Ghana products which will eventually strength the Ghanaian industrial space creating more jobs for the youth.

"The Tourism Ministry should be spearheading the promotion of made in Ghana products. This will strengthen industries in Ghana and help create jobs for people especially the youth. The Central region has the Komenda sugar factory and fish processing factory, so if products from these factories are consumed, you can be assured of an impressive number jobs that will be created."

Responding to a question posed on the derelict status of the country’s only sugar processing factory, the Komenda Sugar factory, Mr. Ricketts-Hagans urged the Trade and Industry use the $24.5m contracted from the Indian Exim bank to cultivate sugar plantation to feed the factory.

The former Deputy Trade and Industry Minister and Deputy Finance Minister denied allegations by the governing New Patriotic Party that the loan has been squandered, adding that the Mahama-led administration only managed to get parliament approve the loan before the left power.