The Minority in Parliament says nothing will stop members from calling the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo incompetent if cocoa production does not increase in the coming years.
At the vetting of the Minister-designate for Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, on Tuesday, Ranking Member of Parliament’s Appointments Committee Haruna Iddrisu challenged the nominee over his ‘incompetent’ rants against the erstwhile Mahama-led administration with regard to cocoa production.
Then a Minority Spokesperson on Food and Agriculture, Dr Afriyie Akoto had descended heavily on the previous administration over the decline in cocoa production.
He had blamed the government of the day for Ghana’s poor yields as compared to La Cote d’Ivoire’s.
Challenged at his vetting whether he still stands by the ‘incompetent’ tag of the Mahama-led administration, the Minister-Designate for Agriculture said if Ghana has not gone beyond the one million metric tonnes of production since the 2010/2011 crop year, nothing short of incompetence is what can be ascribed to it.
He also mentioned corruption, in jest, as also a factor in the country’s poor performance in the production yields of a crop once the country’s pride in terms of export.
He promised to revive production in the sector, saying Ghana will at least close the gap with neighbours Ivory Coast and not to record divergent production outcomes, as is the case.
He was therefore taken by his words by the Minority Leader and has been tasked to live up to it.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana