General News of Monday, 12 February 2001

Source: GNA

Kufuor speaks to CNN

President John Agyekum Kufuor on Saturday said Ghana would draw capital from within the sub-region and overseas if it tackles the devaluation characteristics of the currency successfully.

"We need to work on our currency and if we can tackle that problem successfully, we will be drawing capital from within the sub-region and overseas." President Kufuor said in an interview with CNN International's 'Inside Africa' programme in Accra, which covered a wide range of issues including Ghana's legal system, the economy, education and health.

The interview is the first ever since he took office as Ghana's new resident.

On achievements after his term, President Kufuor said "at the end of four years, we'd have introduced sanity into the money unit of government, which is a rare commodity, people haven't seen it within the forty three years of government since independence.

"But at the end of four years we'd have achieved that and we'd have helped to establish the legal system and the judiciary in such a way that people will begin to feel that truly, justice is delivered without fear or favour in this country."

The President said the private sector would be put on course within the same period because his government subscribes to the market economy and believes in the individual initiative.

"We would also put quality back into education...and make health affordable among other things we expect to deliver," he added.

On the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), President Kufuor advocated education as the best way to combat the deadly disease saying: "Education should be the key and of course having access to the new scientific discoveries to spread about and make it affordable to people generally.

"But above all education in the sense that when you succeed in making the people aware that their lives and the future of whole communities is at stake...they will be careful as to how to live because as far as we know, there's as yet no cure for this deadly disease."