The Presidency has issued a disclaimer on the claim being made by the outgoing Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen to the effect that the One District, One Factory (1D1F) initiative is his brainchild.
In a correspondence from the Communications Unit of the Presidency sighted by DGN Online, it stated that the claims by the Minister are false by explaining that on the 25th day of August, 2017, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo launched the 1D1F programme at Ekumfi in the Central Region.
Below is the full correspondence:
THE 1D1F INITIATIVE IS PREZ. AKUFO-ADDO’s OWN POLICY
We have heard recently about a claim being made by Alan Kyerematen to the effect that the One District, One Factory initiative is his brainchild.
The former Trade and Industry Minister and his team have, over the past few days, laid claim to the initiative, saying the policy was promulgated and implemented by the Trade Ministry led by Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen.
These claims are false. On the 25th day of August, 2017, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo launched the 1D1F programme at Ekumfi in the Central Region.
His Excellency after the launching, cut sod for the commencement of the first factory under the policy, a pineapple/fruit processing factory at Nanabeng in the Central Region of Ghana.
Mrs Gifty Ohene-Konadu was appointed the National Coordinator of the One District-One Factory from June 2017 to May 2020, with its secretariat directly under the Office of the President.
The One District, One Factory program was not a Trade Ministry program. It was an Office of the President project. It was implemented under the Office of the President and had no links whatsoever with the Trade Ministry.
It was at the tail end of 2020 that it was given to the Ministry of Trade and Industry for its continuation. Continuing 1D1F by the Trade Ministry does not in anyway make the policy the initiative of the ministry let alone the Minister in charge of the outfit.
It is, therefore, a complete falsehood for Alan Kyerematen or those around him to go about claiming ownership of the 1D1F initiative. It was an initiative by the President and was implemented under the supervision of the Presidency.
-BY Daniel Bampoe