Sale of state assets scourge of cedi – Greenstreet

General News of Saturday, March 23, 2019

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2019-03-23

Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, flag bearer of the Convention's People's Party (CPP) in 2016, said the sale of high-value factories and public badets had contributed to low national productivity and declining from the cedi.

He made these comments in a press release on the depreciation of the cedi.

Mr Greenstreet explained that the failure of the economic policies of NPPs and NDCs was the cause of the Cedi's problems and the country in general.

"… If you sell all your factories while PNDC / NDC and NPP did what you expected? … you will certainly not produce anything important, but simply import and watch the collapse of your currency."

Historical perspective

The sale of state badets in Ghana has been going on for several decades and adopted a 'legal perspective' in 1983 when the PNDC government launched the Economic Review Program, which has become the main policy instrument of an approach. neoliberal revival of the Ghanaian economy.

Among the measures taken by the PNDC government was the divestiture of the loss-making SOEs and a desperate attempt to have the PNDC regime led by ex-president Jerry John Rawlings give this neo-colonial arrangement a binding force. . The PNDC pbaded the Assignment Act of 1993 on the Implementation of State Interest (PNDCL, 326).

This Act, deemed to have come into force on January 1, 1988, has the effect of depriving the State of its interests in a public limited company or a corporation incorporated under the Companies Code of 1963 (Act 179) or the Act 1962 on private incorporated companies (Act 152).

disposal

"It should be noted that paragraph (1) of the Order authorizes the application of surrender guidelines in accordance with the general guidelines that the PNDC may determine from time to time.

"This has led to the sale of public badets, including Ghana Telecom, Nsawam Cannery, Kanda GNTC, Atlantic Hotel, Continental Hotel, among others," he said.

According to Mr. Greenstreet, "NDC / NPP sold, sold or abandoned our Tema and Takoradi steel mills, an industrial machinery manufacturing facility in Tema, the coir and ceramic plants near Saltpond, Ontario. rattan or cane, basketry and bamboo processing. factories in the eastern region, rubber plantation and a gold refinery in the western region, the Pwalugu tomato factory and the Zuarungu meat factory in Bolgatanga, the Tamale cotton factory and the shoe factory jute and footwear in Kumasi as well as Ghana Telecom for $ 900 million. "

He said, "Nuclear power plants and NDCs destroyed our fortunes and made us beggars … and it was the NDC that sold most of these companies …". Simply, the production of Liberian fibers to produce jute bags alone would save $ 300 million in Ghana and help the cedi. …," he added.

He stated that most of these plants are supplied with raw materials from their farms and that today the link between agriculture and industry represents the greatest potential for job creation.

"It's the state that is driving growth, not the private sector …", he insisted.

"China is where she is today because of state ownership, while she is an atheist, she does not believe in God, she does not have national cathedrals or false pastors who claim to levitate currency, but we are always ready to borrow from them … ", he accused.

Call for strategic conversation

The former flag bearer who, during the recent Independence Day in Tamale on March 6, launched a process called "Strategic Conversations", reaffirmed that these conversations would lead to scenarios, strategic solutions, strategic planning and finally to the acquisition of the characteristics of a winning nation.

He also said that the control of the entry and exit of foreign currencies at our borders by the establishment of a national currency exchange or national currency exchange kiosks at all borders as was the case in other countries.

He added that neither nuclear power plants nor NDCs can improve the cedi's fortunes or structurally reform the economy, because they apply a neoliberal policy and "have too open our economy in favor of foreign capital and are only doing so". Accumulate debt that is not used in the future ". productive sector. "

The only winners are the bankers … and the losers are the young people, the farmers, the workers and the ordinary Ghanaians … Yet Ghanaians continue to follow these two self-defense lies, "he lamented.