NCCE Organizes Parliamentary Debate for Oguaa South constituency Parliamentary aspirants

Cape Coast, Nov.17, GNA-The   Cape Coast office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) on Friday organized a  debate for  Parliamentary aspirants  in the  Cape Coast South constituency to enable them inform the electorate about their visions and aspirations.     The  well attended debate had  Mr. Kweku Rickets-Hagan of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Bright Edem Droefenu of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) and Mr Ato Adu Nyanor of the Convention People’s Party (CPP)  answering questions  on education, unemployment, corruption and health.     Alfred Kojo Thompson of the New Patriotic Party  (NPP) was  however absent      Dr. Mrs Sena Kpleplo, a lecture at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and Mr. Kwabena Antwi-Konadu, the Manager of ATL FM station  in UCC   moderated the debate of which the aspirants  gave their answers in  Fanti (local dialect) to enable all to feel part of the debate.   On Education, Mr. Rickets-Hagan  said when given the nod  he would ensure that teacher trainees are given  quality education who would in turn give  quality education to the students which would go a long way to improve upon their performance in Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results     On  corruption  he said he would lead an exemplary life  and would make sure that those who  embezzle Government  funds  are punished accordingly stressing that  no one  is above the law.       Mr Hagan said to boost the agricultural sector, he would  put in place   infrastructure  that would  help mechanize farming  in the country  to make it more attractive to the youth, adding that he would institute a loans scheme  for the fisher folks so that they could invest more  in their fishing activities .      On health, he said he would put in place measures that would   help reduce HIV/AIDS cases and that he would ensure that the treatment for the disease is included in the National Health Insurance Scheme(NHIS) and that he would also ensure that condoms were made available and  affordable to all especially the youth.     Mr Hagan  further said  he would  use health workers and psychologists to intensify public  education  on the need for  those already infected with the disease  to take care of themselves so they do not infect others.     On Unemployment  Mr. Rickets-Hagan said plan were far advanced to address the situation and that  the NDC  party  in the region has already acquired a piece of  land which would be used as a poultry farm of which  some unemployed youth would be engaged to manage the farm.        For his part on education  Mr. Droefenu  said he would promote the use of community libraries and that students would be  provided with the requisite books to enhance teaching and learning adding that students who perform well at the  SHS  would be encourage to go to  the teacher  training college  so that enough trained  teachers would be produced to manage  schools in the constituency .    On agriculture, he  said when given the nod  he would provide facilities and farm implements to make farming  easier  for farmers and  that he would  also give farm implements on credit to those who would not to be able to buy  them out-front.        On corruption, he  said  he would make sure that contractors did  not pay any percentage of money to any one before they  are awarded contracts and that he would also get involved and closely monitor their work to ensure that jobs were completed on schedule whilst  avoiding shoddy works.       Touching on health he  pointed out that he would ensure that public  education on HIV/AIDS is extended to homes, communities and schools and  that the treatment of the disease would be included in the NHIS.        On the reduction of unemployment  Mr. Droefenu  said, he would set up labour desk and register those in need of jobs and fix those with  the requisite qualification into the appropriate  companies, and  give soft loans to those who have a vocation but do not have the capital to set  up their  own businesses.       He said those who did not have any  vocation at all, he  would be place them   in individual homes to do jobs like gardening, cooking and babysitting for a fee, this he noted would  provide them with an income.      The CPP Parliamentary aspirant, Mr. Nyanor of the CPP  said education would be his priority and  that he would employ committed and dedicated teachers who he would   motivate to give of their best.   On agriculture, he said he would give incentives to farmers which he noted would also encourage the youth to take up farming as a vocation and that fishers would also be provided with  equipment to enhance their  fishing activities.     He  said his vision for  the health is to ensure  that electricity  is provided at hospitals and health centres that did not have lights  to enhance health care delivery and that  he would also make sure that the treatment for  HIV/AIDS is included in the NHIS.    To reduce the level of unemployment, Mr. Nyanor  said he would encourage the youth to start their own businesses such  as fruit processing  since the region has a lot of citrus which could be processed into juice.   At the end of the debate all the three candidates advised the people to restrain from any form of violence in the coming December 7 election so that the elections would be  free, fair and violence-free and that they  should see themselves as just political opponents and not enemies   GNA... 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