Accra, Aug. 16, GNA - Mr John Agyekum Kufuor, Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), said on Wednesday that it is now more obvious to him than ever that Ghana needs a new leader to enable her break from the shackles of pervasive poverty.

He said there is the need for a structural transformation that would lead to a self-reliant, entrepreneurial, technology-driven economy.

Speaking when he presented a copy of the party's manifesto to the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Accra he said Ghana should be an exporter of value- added goods and an independent country that would not rely on donor handouts.

The manifesto titled "Agenda For Positive Change" is the NPP's blueprint on how it intends to marshal the country's resources not only to become self-reliant but also a leading agricultural economy in Africa by 2010.

"It is now obvious that the nation needs new policies, new measures, a new direction, in effect, a new leadership if she is to break from the shackles of pervasive poverty," he told the leaders of the business community.

The NPP flag-bearer said strengthening the capability of indigenous enterprise is the key to the growth of the new economy that will emerge with the coming into force of an NPP government.

"It is time our businessmen and businesswomen are empowered to compete effectively on the domestic, regional and global markets." He pledged his party's commitment to raise the per capita income from the current 370 dollars to 1,000 dollars by 2010.

Mr Kufuor expressed regret that the economy still wholly depends on raw material production - 81 per cent of the nation's foreign receipts are from cocoa, gold and timber - as was the case through the last century.

Average income, which was at 400 dollars at independence has fallen to 370 dollars. Mr Kufuor said the party's manifesto, among other things, would aim at enhancing the capacity and ability of the agricultural sector to meet the food needs of the 18.4 million Ghanaians and for export.

Mr Yaw Osafo-Marfo, MP for Akyem Oda, said an NPP government would encourage people to be rich.

"We will not stop them because it will lead to an improvement of the per capita income of Ghanaians." He said industry, together with political institutions and politicians, must find solutions to the problems facing the country which, he claimed, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has failed to do.

He said an NPP government would put policies in place to ensure growth at eight per cent, adding that the current growth rate of 3.5 per cent rate makes a mockery of the middle income status Ghana is aspiring for.

Mr Osafo-Marfo said the Ministry of Finance should concentrate on the fiscal side of managing the economy while the Central Bank is left to work on the monetary aspect.

He stressed the need for a strong co-relation between finance, agriculture and industry in order to move Ghana forward to become a strong nation capable of meeting her requirements rather than borrowing her way through every transaction.

Mr Osafo-Marfo said the NPP manifesto on agriculture would create a venture fund of 25 billion cedis every year for four years.

This would be done in collaboration with banks, industry and private sector companies. He welcomed the fast-track approach adopted by Ghana and Nigeria to have a common currency for Anglophone West Africa.

"The NPP knows that the cedi on its own cannot survive the pressures that are facing it."

He expressed regret that government continues to spend about 25 per cent on servicing treasury bills, which have crowded out the private sector completely considering the high interest rate this has created.

"Treasury bills currently attract an interest of 45.2 per cent while in Japan it is zero per cent. "We cannot have zero per cent here, because we do not want to create unemployment, but we need to bring it down considerably."

Major Courage Quarshigah(RTD), National Organiser of the NPP, said the party is passionate about the agricultural sector and would adopt stringent and prudent policies to make it successful.

He said there is no excuse for food shortage and high bills on food imports because the various elements for an effective agricultural sector exist in abundance.

He told the GNA that the manifesto would be summarised for the benefit of all, adding that it has already been translated into the major languages.

Dr Addo Kufuor, MP for Manhyia, said an NPP government would ensure inter sectoral linkages to development, especially in the health sector, which has failed woefully under the NDC.

Mr Ato Ampiah, President of the GNCCI said the meeting was significant to the private sector as it gives the indication that politicians recognise the role of the private sector as the real engine of growth.

He said the GNCCI, though apolitical, is interested in what the various manifestos hold for the sector.