One of the aspirants in the race for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential slot, Prof. Aaron Michael Oquaye has declared that when given the nod to rule this country on the ticket of the ruling NPP, he would introduce “Operation CORN, CHICKEN NA EGG” as the key programme for sustainable national development.
In an interview with The Chronicle over the weekend in Accra, Prof. Mike Oquaye said the country had suffered a lot under the leadership of the P (NDC), which put the economy in a bad shape, but with the leadership of President Kufuor, the economy was gradually improving, and that when given the nod, he would inject the Asian model of agricultural policy which helped England during the 1970’s.
According to him recent statistics showed that 1.4 million eligible school-going children were not in school but with the introduction of the School Feeding Programme (SFP), the number had drastically reduced.
Prof. Oquaye who is also the MP for Dome/Kwabenya Constituency explained that if we produced enough corn, the School Feeding Programme would be less expensive and that we would not spend more on importing cornflakes and other food items into the country. He said with this idea, the children would eat corn bread in the morning and one egg each day, which would take them to school without relying on imported food. “When you have corn, you have chicken, and when you have chicken, you have eggs,” he added. The Presidential aspirant noted that when England adopted the policy, ‘egg a day takes the child to school’, it worked well for them and that he would surely introduce that policy under his leadership.
He continued that England realized that egg was such a superb meal that when taken, one had taken a full chicken. He added that more emphasis would be laid on Agriculture, Education and Health since they were the backbone of the nation’s economy. He said that herbal medicine in the country would be given such serious attention that Ghana would become self-reliant and thereby make considerable savings on foreign drugs.
Asked whether the current opinion poll was a true reflection that the election 2008 would go a second round, Prof. Mike Oquaye responded in the negative, emphasizing that “there will be victory for the NPP in the first round.” He, however, said that for the sake of analysis, “I believe that in politics there are no formalities with regard to certain issues and I believe that there is a possibility to form an alliance with the other opposition parties against the NDC.”
He stated that the NDC, under the leadership of former President John Rawlings had everything within their power for twenty years to transform this country into a world-class model country, but they failed. As to whether the CPP was going to decide who would win the 2008 elections in view of the recent political analysis published in the media, Prof. Oquaye was quick to reply that he did not think so. He, however, wished the CPP very well, saying that they had a very important role to play to strengthen democracy in the country. He explained, “When the CPP becomes stronger, the party that is going to suffer will be the NDC.”
Confident about his chances in the race, Prof. Oquaye who has in recent times been in the media, highlighting his vision for the country and the party, said, “My credo is party in partnership with government; this I started in saying in 2000. I still assure Ghanaians that when given the nod, I shall, with this message win all floating voters for the NPP. Prof. Oquaye however emphasized that under his leadership, he was going to provide a very sound logistical base to keep the activities of the party going all over the country. He said, “Elections are won on a sound logistical base, and under my leadership, all the 230 constituencies are going to be provided with a double-cabin four-wheel drive.
