Choicenewsonline Your Choice Is Here
The Ghana Union Movement (GUM) has launched its manifesto for this year’s general election with a promise to revisit the progressive policies of Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
The manifesto, dubbed “The New Ghana,” focused more on industrialisation, technical education, agriculture, job creation, accountable governance and welfare initiatives.
Addressing about 1,500 people who had gathered for the launching of the manifesto at Prempe Assembly Hall in Kumasi , the Flag-bearer of GUM, Reverend Christian Kwabena Andrew, said the party’s campaign for the 2024 general election would hinge primarily on industrialisation and job creation.
“We are coming to continue the great dream of Dr Nkrumah that has been abandoned for many years. We have good plans and good policies for a better future and it is a plan to make Ghana prosper and be great again,” he stressed.
Industrialisation
To promote industrialisation, he said a GUM government would operate a duty-free port to facilitate trade for the local business community.
He said the party would also ensure that there was free power for local businesses to thrive.
“I want to assure all Ghanaians that the high cost of doing business at the port will be a thing of the past because there will be free port under a GUM government.
Also, electricity is essential to the growth of businesses so I will ensure that power is free for local businesses while expatriates will pay the appropriate rates for the power they consume,” he stressed.
Education
The GUM flag-bearer said if the party was elected into office, there would be an immediate review of the current educational system to be centred on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) as a means to produce the human resource with the expertise to ensure sustainable development.
He said the current syllabi for basic, second-cycle as well as tertiary institutions had failed to prepare students to have the technical ability or critical thinking skills to address nagging development challenges.
Rev. Andrew said there would be an overhaul in the education architecture to eliminate the use of examination to measure the intellect of students.
“I want to stress here that the emphasis will be on skills acquisition instead of merely passing examination. In fact, certificates will not be the basis for appointment under a GUM government,” he said.
Galamsey
Rev. Andrew said it was worrying that although Ghana had been blessed with abundant natural resources including gold, diamond, bauxite and manganese, those resources had been poorly managed by successive leaders.
Wading into the brouhaha surrounding the illegal mining menace, he said it was evident that the government had failed to deal with the canker.
He said the GUM would take bold steps to streamline the activities in the small-scale mining sector and give opportunities to all people to mine sustainably.
Welfare
The GUM flag-bearer said the party had a policy in place to provide monthly allowances for all persons who retire at age 60 to make life easier for them.
He also said a lifeline would be given to prisoners to be reunited with their families “when the GUM wins the election and forms a government.”
“People who are in prison, except those who committed murder, will be taken out and made to do community service for six months under supervision, after which they will be supported to start life afresh,” he said.
He added that the GUM would prioritise community service over custodial sentence for convicts.
Rev. Christian Kwabena Andrews, Founder and leader of Ghana Union Movement (GUM) made public caricature of NDC’s much trumpeted “24-hour economy” policy cannot put food on the table of Ghanaians.
“It’s just a mere statement.
John Mahama’s 24-hour economy is not a company neither is it an enterprise…it will not put food on our table and yet people are cherishing it”.
Furthering his critique, Rev. Andrew a.k.a “Sofo Kyiriabosom” mentioned that the way John Mahama is going about his sensitization on the policy is just like telling a “Kwaku Ananse and Ntekuma” story.
It’s a show of concert played out by the NDC to Ghanaians.
Rev. Christian Kwabena Andrews explained that owing to the litany of collapsed companies in Ghana, the 24-hour economy is not doable.
“Without reviving collapsed companies it will not be possible.
At the moment there are no jobs in the country so what do call 24- hour economy…It cannot be accomplished until collapsed business in Ghana are revived.”
He told the media that NDC and NPP will continue creating problems for the country if Ghanaians continue voting for them.
“Development of the country is not their (NPP and NDC) mindset.
On their part, some of the party supporters also used the opportunity to called on Ghanaians to vote GUM over NDC and NPP since they don’t have anything good to offer for Ghanaians.
