Former president John Dramani Mahama says he feels sorry for the plight of cocoa farmers under the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
According to him, it is wicked on the part of President Akufo-Addo to stop the supply of free fertilisers to cocoa farmers and rather allow the fertilisers to expire.
He said the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration implemented some good policies for cocoa farmers, but all that has been undone by the current government.
Mahama made the statement during an interaction with cocoa farmers and the people of Enchi in the Aowin Constituency of the Western North Region. “I feel very sad for our cocoa farmers. We had good plans and started implementing good policies for the cocoa sector,” he said.
According to him, cocoa farmers had better annual yields when the fertilisers were made free to them. He, therefore, wondered why the Akufo-Addo government would halt such a move and rather sell the fertilisers to the cocoa farmers.
“When we started giving out free fertilisers, it was because we realised it will help improve yield, and in the 2016/17 crop year, we recorded 950,000 tons… I cannot understand why this government will decide to stop that and sell the fertilisers to the farmers. “In fact, it is wickedness to leave the fertiliser in warehouses because the farmers cannot and won’t buy them, and throw them away after they expire,” he criticised.
The NDC flagbearer is currently on a two-day tour of the Western North Region as he continues to campaign ahead of the 2020 elections. Mahama assured that the NDC will implement people-friendly policies and initiatives when the party returns to power.
He said all projects stopped by the Akufo-Addo government in the Enchi and the Aowin Constituency will be resumed and new projects added when he wins the 2020 elections.
“The Elubo to Enchi road was on contract and we gave it to two contractors so they can be completed early. They should have been completed by now, but thanks to the NPP that road is worse now than when we started working on it,” Mahama added.
