Former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ing. Kwabena Agyei Agyapong has delivered what can only be described as a inspiring message of hope at the launch of his flagbearership campaign.
Captioned the “New Dawn”, the Engineer’s speech touched on significant issues confronting the country including the illing economy, inflation, indiscipline amongst others.
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Here some 6 things mentioned in the speech
- A lean wholly downsized government, one that works efficiently and effectively to deliver to the aspirations and expectations of the Ghanaian people. The Ministries will be reconfigured to align with the constitutional Cap of 19 Cabinet to be assisted by an equal number of deputies in addition to the 16 in the regions making up a team of 54. Stakeholder consultations will be undertaken to introduce an upper limit of 9 Judges on the Supreme Court and possibly remove the retirement age of 70 and allow Supreme Court judges to serve until they are unable to perform their functions.
- Enforcing Law and Order, imposing Discipline and ensuring Compliance of Rules and Regulations. A Zero Tolerance policy anchored on a drastic penalty regime coupled with a strong political will to punish those who tinker with the public treasury. The Law should work to uproot corruption, protect individual and property rights.
- Cutting waste in the public sector by ensuring that there is Value for Money in public procurement and here I will draw heavily on my engineering background to facilitate the freeing up of vital resources to support the empowerment of the youth through technical education, entrepreneurship, and small business start-ups.
- Restore Meritocracy and Professionalism to the Civil and Public Services by significantly reducing unbridled politicization and interference. It is time to end the
wasteful seminars, workshops, fora, and expensive retreats and rather move into implementation mode, utilising the recommendations of the huge volumes of reports gathering dust.
- Urban Regeneration and Renewal. The current Urban Ecosystem is dysfunctional. A structured, coordinated, and integrated approach must be adopted and implemented to create more liveable cities and human settlements where basic needs do not become a permanent dream. A Technical Advocacy Committee TAC of the Professional bodies within the Built Environment (Surveyors, Planners, Architects and Engineers) will be set up to help resolve the challenges thereof.
- Entertainment and Sports. In the Creative Arts, the issue of protection of intellectual property and copyright is dear to me. Creatives need to be empowered to own their work and earn a decent living from their talent. It is a sector that has the potential to absorb our teeming youth and it is my dream to see creatives thrive in Ghana. My passion for sports is public knowledge, nevertheless, Ghana cannot be the jack of all sports and master of none. Soccer, Boxing and Athletics will obviously be priority with a focus on school sports and Colts soccer. We have got to revive interest in our Premier League and restore the organic link between communities and traditional football teams and of course the all-important role of Government in football administration in Ghana.