Former Minister of Trade and Industry and New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer aspirant, Alan Kyerematen, has asserted that Ghana could have avoided seeking assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if his ideas had been heeded and implemented.
During his Greater Accra delegates tour, Alan Kyerematen highlighted the President’s Special Initiatives (PSI) introduced during the erstwhile John Agyekum Kuffour’s administration as a game-changing concept that could have transformed Ghana’s economic trajectory if embraced by the nation.
Reflecting on his contributions to the country, he expressed a sense of regret, stating, “The amount of work I have done for this country, sometimes I even feel ashamed talking about it.”
He emphasized his role in introducing the President’s Special Initiatives during President John Agyekum Kufuor’s administration and suggested that had Ghanaians embraced his ideas, the country would not have resorted to seeking assistance from the IMF, he is quoted to have said.
The strategic intent of the PSIs, according to the NPP government, was to move Ghana’s economy beyond HIPC status and reduce the country’s over-dependence on aid and donor support and a few commodity exports by finding new pillars of growth.
A total of 10 NPP presidential candidate aspirants had picked up nomination forms as of Thursday, June 1, 2023, and had paid a non-refundable nomination fee of GH¢50,000.
The 10 include; Vice- President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, a former Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, a former Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Joe Ghartey, a businessman and energy expert Kwadwo Poku, a former Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko, a former NPP General Secretary, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, a former MP for Mampong, Francis Addai-Nimoh, a former Minister of State, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku and a former Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto.