Former Finance Minister Kwabena Duffuor has confirmed his interest in becoming president of Ghana.
He said if given the nod to lead the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as flagbearer for the 2024 election, he would choose either Speaker Alban Bagbin or Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu as his running mate.
“I was a finance minister, so, I was in politics but we have not started talking about the NDC presidential race yet. If we get there and I’m given the nod, why not?” he said in an interview on Accra-based TV3 about his presidential ambition.
Asked who he would select as his running mate, Dr Duffuor said: “There are two people who are doing very well in politics; they are lawyers. Look at Bagbin; almost 30 years in politics. Look at Haruna also, any of them either Haruna Iddrisu or Bagbin could be my running mate, they’re working hard, they’re in politics, they will compliment me.”
Meanwhile, Dr Duffuor has said focusing on Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) will be pivotal to reducing unemployment in Ghana.
At a lecture on the theme: ‘The Ghanaian Dream; Transforming the economy through job creation and opportunities for all’ held at the Tang Palace on Monday, 29 November 2021, the former Governor of the Bank of Ghana said: “The neglect of technical and vocational training over the years might have contributed to the high unemployment and rising poverty among the youth”.
“Many of them lack basic job skills”, he observed.
In his view, “high youth unemployment and prevalent skills gaps within the labour force underline the necessity for vocational and technical education”.
As far as he is concerned, “Ghana must place TVET education in the centre of job creation strategy to successfully address the high youth unemployment”.
According to him, 20% of the employed population have had no formal education while 54% have basic education and 16% have higher education.
“Not only does unemployment cause poverty but higher crime rates”, Dr Duffuor said.
He noted that children with “unemployed parents don’t do well academically”.
Also, he noted that the “inability to create good jobs and gain sustainable jobs for the young people will foster the problem of inequality”.
“It’s also an issue of gross economic inefficiency”, he said.
“Although the officially measured rate of unemployment is about 8.4% as of 2017 and there’s a concern for young people’s access to decent employment, without a transformation of the current economic structure, employment opportunities will remain limited,” Dr Duffuor pointed out.
Source: 3news.com
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The message of the Akufo-Addo Administration is: Ghana beyond aid. And he seems to be very consistent with that mantra. Indeed, the mantra of unwavering determination to propel Ghana forward. Therefore, he has to think beyond the box to do things differently as opposed to the status quo since our independence. And, if we are being honest and evaluating his performance within his policy guidelines and accomplishments to date, we should recognize that he has made many notable heads. Whether it is in his education, industrialization, or infrastructure policies, the bottom line is that we could realize that he is being dynamic in modernity in his approach to bringing Ghana forward. Of all these, we can see in many regions in Ghana the upspring of physical development. I bet if Ghanaians were left to keep their own counsel and determine who rules them for their benefit, the NDC would be dormant for the next twenty years. Then, I sometimes become terribly upset when I hear certain big shots of the NDC comment on certain national issues. Yes, I am strongly inclined to believe that they just lack the requisite basic competence as politicians, let alone the ability to appreciate the principles of democracy. Thus, when their counterparts in politics are innovative in solving the dire problems of the nation by leapfrogging with the technology of the day, they baselessly oppose it without showing what they would have done better. Quite often, they appear diabolically cynical. Why don't we give it a try based on the current state of technology and digitalize the economy to expand our tax net? At the end of the day, there would be more taxpayers in the net and the unit levy would be lower for everybody. We all, as Ghanaians, accept that the current structures are such that only a few employers are captured in the tax net, and hence appears to be leaking. So what speaks against it if we could use digitalization to patch it? Yet, the learned members of the NDC have lost their reasons. Mind you, we should be mindful that we just can't be doing the same old thing over and over again and expect different results. Indeed, Mr. Duffour has a legitimate concern and should be wary of the poor level of politics dispensed by his party, NDC. The NDC, as the largest opposition party in Ghana today, has no political message for the electorate. Hence, dwelling on trivialities, insinuating lies, baseless polemics, and propaganda have been the mainstream opposition politics of the NDC. To the extent that the spelling-mistake of the President's name has become a conduit for cheap political gain, I think Mahama has just incompetently imposed himself on the NDC for the presidential race. Hence, sycophancy and bootlicking have become the trademarks of the NDC in Ghanaian politics today. The boys with sharp teeth are out there barking loudly to be heard for positions in case political power is so attained. And quite often, the people, the electorate, are shortchanged and become the victims of bad governance