Govt commissions 12 factories under 1D1F initiative in last 6 months – Eugene Arhin
• Mr Eugene Arhin addressing the press

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has, in the past six months, commissioned 12 factories in the country under the government’s One District One Factory policy.

These factories, which were commissioned during the President’s tour of all 16 regions in the country, had created thousands of jobs for the youth, the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, told the media at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday.

The One District One Factory initiative is a key component of the industrial transformation agenda of the government.

The goal is to construct 278 companies across all districts in the country to create thousands of jobs for the youth.

According to the Director of Communications at the Presidency, 150 more factories were under construction, and the remaining 24 were at the mobilisation stage and would provide more jobs for residents of the districts, particularly the youth.

In the past six months, MrArhin said the President had inspected and commissioned ten hospital infrastructures, and a regional coordinating council building in the Western North Region.

He added that the President had commissioned seven newly constructed district and municipal assembly buildings and ongoing works on eight educational infrastructures.

MrArhin further indicated that the President had inaugurated a number of key infrastructural projects for the Fire Service and the Military, inspected ongoing works on the Kumasi Airport; and commissioned a number of water projects, as well as waste management projects across the country.

“All-in-all, the President’s tours of the regions have been very fruitful, which have brought to the fore the considerable amount of work that has been undertaken by the Government of President Akufo-Addo for the growth and development of Ghana, and for the enhancement of the well-being of the Ghanaian people,” he said.

Touching on the President’s recent trip to the COP 26 Summit in Scotland, MrArhin dismissed rumours that the government-sponsored 337 people to the event.

“For the avoidance of doubt, let me a place on record that the official presidential delegation comprised of 24 persons including the President, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Energy, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, and officials of the Presidency and Foreign Ministry,” he said.

MrArhin further touched on recent comments by the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Reverend Philip Naameh, at the Catholic Bishops Conference held in Wa, capital of the Upper West Region.

According to the Catholic Bishops, President Akufo-Addo’s promise to protect the public purse, a promise that Ghanaians welcomed, had become an illusion.

“In as much as this administration is extremely tolerant of divergent views, and welcomes criticisms of its work, we believe these criticisms should be well-founded and well-grounded in fact, as this is the only way an honest conversation, devoid of malice and propaganda, can be held,” he said.

He said President Akufo-Addo had remained true to his promise of protecting the public purse, adding that the “transformation that has taken place in all aspects of national life point to an economy that has been well-managed, a public purse that is being well-protected, and the benefits are showing.”

“Indeed, if President Akufo-Addo had superintended over the wanton dissipation of public funds, the Ghanaian people would not have reposed their confidence in him by returning a decisive margin of victory for him in the 2020 elections” he said.

Mr. Arhin said the Free Senior High School (SHS), which now guaranteed a minimum of SHS education for all Ghanaian children, and had already granted access to SHS to over 400,000 more children, would not have been possible if the public purse was not being protected.

He said Planting for Food and Jobs, which had engaged 1.5 million farmers who enjoy subsidised inputs of fertilisers, seeds, insecticides, and other inputs, had ensured that Ghana no longer imported food like tomatoes and plantain from neighbouring countries, but is rather a net exporter of foodstuffs within the ECOWAS Community.

The policy, he said, would not have been possible if the public purse was not being protected.

“Today, through the prudent use of public resources, 104 factories, through Government’s 1D1F initiative, are operating, and are providing jobs for thousands of unemployed youths,” he said.