The chiefs and people of Bolgatanga East District in the Upper East Region have appealed to former President John Dramani Mahama to revamp the defunct Zuarungu meat factory when elected as President on December 7.

According to them, the factory had great potential to turn the fortunes of the people, but it had been abandoned for several decades while youth unemployment continued to soar in the area.

“We want to appeal to you, Your Excellency, to revive the Zuarungu meat factory in line with your 24-hour economic policy when you take over office in 2025. It is very dear to all the eight traditional divisions of the district,” Naba Patrick Asaliya, Acting Chief of Yarigabisi, said, speaking on behalf of the chiefs in the area.

The chiefs made the appeal at Yarigabisi during a durbar as part of the first phase of the 2024 election campaign tours of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Presidential Candidate.

Located at Dulugu, a suburb of Zuarungu, the meat factory, one of the legacies of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, was constructed and started operations in 1965.

The factory had its raw materials from neighbouring countries Burkina Faso and Mali and processed about 1,000 canned meats daily.

The factory created numerous jobs for many people, especially the youth, particularly those in the livestock value chain and other people dealing in the sales of animals and meat.

However, despite its significance, it folded up due to mismanagement, with its facilities deteriorating and operations stalled since 1995.

Successive governments, however, have failed to revamp the factory after several political campaign promises.

The chiefs, who commended the former President for development projects the area benefited from during his government, urged him to prioritise the revamping and operationalisation of the Zuarungu meat factory when implementing the 24-hour economic policy as President to create jobs and boost the growth of local economies.

Responding to the request, Mr. Mahama noted that revamping the Zuarungu meat factory was one of the key projects the next NDC government had prioritised and assured the chiefs of his resolve to revive the factory.

He said the 24-hour economic policy was a deliberate and aggressive strategy to revolutionise the Ghanaian economy to create jobs and boost local businesses.

Through the policy, he said, apart from strengthening security, the policy would provide incentives to businesses that wish to extend their working hours, and by so doing, more jobs would be created for the youth.

“What our young people need is jobs. If they have jobs, they will be able to buy their own mobile phones, and that is what the 24-hour economic policy is coming to do. If businesses work more hours, they will require more people, and it means more of our young people will be employed,” he said.

He further assured the electorate that more young people would be recruited into the security services to support the implementation of the policy, adding that the recruitment would be decentralised to the district level and the process would be transparent.

The former President is touring the Upper East Region and is being accompanied by Professor Joshua Alabi, Chairman of his campaign team, Mrs. Joyce Bawah Mogtari, his Spokesperson, Members of Parliament, and party executives.