Mahama to make poverty reduction centre piece of his governance

Koforidua, Sept. 21, GNA -- Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu, a former Defence Minister and one of the candidates for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential primary, said he would make poverty reduction the centre piece of his government when elected President of Ghana.

Alhaji Mahama referred to increasing incidents of abuse of drugs, armed robberies and other deviant acts and said they pointed to a certain aberration in national governance which must be addressed.

'Every Ghanaian should be an equal shareholder in the nation's wealth': he said, adding that the priority his Party if elected to power in 2008, is to ease the financial stress currently being borne by the masses due to the current Government's austerity policies. Alhaji Mahama who was interacting with reporters at Koforidua on Wednesday as part of his campaign tour of the Eastern Region, called for policies that would encourage wealth creation not just for a minority, but for the larger segment of society as means of elevating people from penury and as a crime fighting measure.

On his chances at the NDC congress, the former Defence Minister referred to his long public service and stewardship in the political arena and said this puts him streets ahead of other contestants.

Alhaji Mahama said he was among a very limited number of politicians in the country that enjoyed popular support across the political, ethnic and social divide, adding that he was counting on that broad appeal to prevail at the NDC primary and subsequently at the 2008 general elections.

He said he would support any candidate that emerges as the winner at the Party's Congress with all his talent to ensure that the NDC is returned to power to help correct imbalances in the current development strategies that does not seem to favour the masses.

Alhaji Mahama expressed the hope that delegates to the NDC congress would choose someone who is capable of winning the national election, saying "I represent that option as a strategic candidate." He said he would give hope and inspire the people to address their challenges such as the accommodation problem bedeviling public universities to and also create opportunities for self-empowerment and prosperity.

He advocated an overhaul of some state institutions and a reduction of political interferences in the administration of those institutions to ensure that they contribute significantly towards good governance, accountability and poverty reduction.

While appreciating the immensity of the media in keeping state functionaries in check, Alhaji Iddrisu was not happy that some state agencies had not had their Acts and instruments right, thus creating structural problems not just for those institutions but for the state resulting in poor results.

He cited the Agricultural Development Bank and wondered why a banking institution charged with ensuring food security through the advancement of credit to farmers, rather had agriculturists and veterinary officers becoming managers of the bank when they should be on the field offering technical advice.

He said such state of affairs had resulted in the achievement of poor results and said it was time that the political establishment learnt to supervise state institutions to work and demand results from them.