<<Print>>

President John Mahama has admonished Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, to find a better way of alleviating the hardships head potters - Kayayei - in Ghana go through and has described his (Nana Addo's) promise to build hostels to accommodate those involved in the practice as the "most insulting" promise. The NPP leader made the promise when he met with members of Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) some two weeks ago. But addressing supporters of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Savelugu in the Northern region, President Mahama opined that the promise to provide free temporary housing for such vulnerable girls is insulting to the dignity of northern girls. To him, the series of promises being made by the NPP's presidential candidate is indicative of someone caught in the quagmire of desperation. "Because you (Nana Addo) are desperate to win, you are promising free everything; I will give free healthcare to children under 18 years. It is being implemented already...He says he will give free hostels to Kayayei. That is the most insulting one.� President Mahama pointed out that the solution to the problem of kayayei lies not in such outlandish promises, but in the provision of skilled programmes that would enable the young girls do good business; an initiative which the NDC government has embarked upon. �So our girls should remain there and continue to carry people�s goods. If you have a sickness, you must go to the cause of the sickness, you don�t treat the symptom...So if you want to solve the problem of Kayayei, then you will do what NDC is doing. We�ve been to the south, we are registering our little sisters who are Kayayes there. We are putting them in training, we are teaching them how to be dressmakers, hairdressers, how to be able to do work with their hands, we are giving them sewing machines and other equipment and then we are bringing them back to come and settle so that they can do work for themselves,� he explained.