The Agric Minister has accused former President John Mahama’s brother of scrounging government subsidised fertilisers targeted at smallholder farmers in the country.

Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto said that his brother is a commercial farmer, cultivating 300 acres and does not qualify to benefit from the fertiliser meant for the poor farmers.

The Agric Minister believes the former President’s brother should be able to raise funds to purchase fertiliser for his farm.

“The subsidies are meant for farmers with 2, 3 acres which is the bulk of smallholders and not for 300 acres for goodness sake. So he has actually scrounged on poor farmers to start with if he was able to do 300 acres with subsidised fertiliser.

“So what Mr Mahama is saying cannot be true. In any case, we are talking about millions and millions of farmers. For him to make that conclusion from one observation, it means that when it comes to statistics he has absolutely no clue,” he said.

Dr Afriyie Akoto made these comments in rebuttal to claims made by Mr John Mahama that Ghana is likely to experience food shortage in 2022 if the government does not put more funds into its Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme.

While justifying his assertion that the PFJ programme is a failure, the former President stated that many farmers including his own brother are yet to receive fertilisers promised by the Akufo-Addo government.

“My brother is a farmer and he tells me this year, he has not received any fertiliser supply from the government and so he bought his own fertiliser and a bag of fertiliser is very expensive. Normally, he cultivates 300 acres of maize each year.

“But this year, he had to reduce it, he was not able to cultivate even 80 acres. So there’s a possibility of food shortage next year because the Planting for Food and Jobs Programme has failed,” the former President explained.

Persons within Ghana’s food production value chain are warning of looming food shortage if measures are not immediately taken to resolve the unavailability of fertilizer in the country by the end of the year.

But the Sector Minister vehemently rejected the claims describing them as statistically inaccurate.

He insisted that the programme has been largely successful despite the government’s inability to meet the projected demand for subsidised fertilisers for the PFJ programme.

The Food and Agriculture Minister admitted to challenges with the supply of fertiliser to farmers to boost agricultural production.

He, however, refuted claims it will result in food shortage in the following year.

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Source: GhArticles.com

Former President John Mahama has paid a glowing tribute to National Democratic Congress (NDC) stalwart, Ama Benyiwa Doe.

The NDC 2020 presidential candidate has described the latter as a true gender activist, following the news of her denise.

Mr Mahama made the remark in a post on Facebook, stating she was a champion of women’s rights.

To him, the former Central Regional Minister under the erstwhile Atta Mills administration was one of the most inspirational icons to have served NDC and Ghana at large.

He wrote: I have received, with deep sadness, news of the demise of one of the most inspirational icons to have served our party, the NDC, and this great nation.

She was not only a politician but also a gender activist and champion of women’s rights. Ama Benyiwa Doe was an embodiment of limitless courage, commitment, and passion for service.

May her soul rest in eternal glory.

The former minister and Member of Parliament (MP) died on Sunday, September 19, 2021, in Tema.

She was 73.

She was first elected into Parliament during the December 1992 general election on the ticket of the NDC as MP for the Gomoa West Constituency in the Central Region.

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The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman for the Chereponi district has been brutally assaulted by party youth following the release of President Nana Akufo-Addo’s list for the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executive (MMDCEs) Sunday.

A video circulating on social media shows the chairman being mobbed by the marauding party youth and subjected to severe beatings while some policemen make efforts to save him from the wild attacks with warning shots.

In a report filed by Kasapafmonline sighted by GhArticles.com, reports say the party office has been set ablaze amidst the tension.

Earlier on, police in a statement announced an intel regarding a demonstration set to be embarked upon by some members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who were aggrieved that their favourite candidate, S.K. Orlando, was not recommended for nomination.

“The Chereponi District Police Command upon receipt of the information quickly invited the Chereponi constituency chairman, Aliu Suleman and some of the youth leaders and after discussing, the chairman and the youth leaders realized the need to keep the peace and abide by the advice of the police not proceed with the demonstration. They also promised to go by the Police Order Act and notify the police accordingly, should they intend to organize the demonstration.”

The police had also engaged S.K Orlando who was urged to calm his supporters down.

But the youth are unwilling to back down as tension escalates at Chereponi over the DCE nomination.

Watch the video below;

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Source: GhArticles.com