Ayariga Attacks Newspapers

Presidential Spokesperson for President John Evans Atta Mills, Mr. Mahama Ayariga, has rubbished the stories carried by Daily Guide, The New Crusading Guide and The Chronicle to the effect that he had acquired tractors at a relatively cheaper price from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

He denied that allegation, and stated that neither he nor any leading member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Bawku Constituency whose name has been mentioned in those stories bought tractors at prices cheaper than the tractors being sold by the agric Ministry.

“Nobody bought tractors at prices cheaper than the prices at which the tractors are being sold by the Ministry of Agriculture. Neither myself, Honourable Alban Bagbin or any of the NDC youth politician that has been mentioned in these newspapers bought any tractor at a price lower than the price at which the tractor is being sold by the Ministry of Agriculture,” Mahama Ayariga firmly reiterated.

According to the Presidential Spokesperson, he would not be detracted by the writings and stories of these newspapers, particularly in his efforts to implement policies that would better the lot of the people of Bawku.

He intimated that anytime there is a policy which would benefit his people in Bawku he would not hesitate to ensure that he brings such policy to them.

This, he said is in respect of the fact that the people of Bawku who are nationals of this country deserve measures which will better their lot

“I would not be detracted by the writings of Daily Guide, The New Crusading Guide and The Chronicle in my efforts to assist farmers in my Constituency,” the Presidential Spokesperson stressed.

The Presidential Spokesperson was responding to allegations on Accra based Citi FM regarding stories carried by Daily Guide, The Chronicle and The New Crusading Guide that he had acquired tractors at a very cheap price at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

He described the stories published by the newspapers as a deliberate agenda to misrepsrent a clear situation to the Ghanaian public.

He cautioned that it was very unfair and unfortunate when journalists use the tools of the media at their disposal for unpatriotic and unfair conduct.

“I think that it is unfair that when we use the tools of the media at our disposal for unpatriotic and unfair conduct to misrepresent situations close to the Ghanaian public,” Ayariga sharply criticized.

He explained that he purchased the tractors with his own money knowing very well that there was no way ordinary farmers in Bawku could dole out 90 or 80 million old Ghana Cedis as deposit to enable them get tractors to plough their farm lands.

He said it was against this reason that as a leading figure in his constituency he deemed it expedient to come to the aid of farmers in his constituency by making the deposit to take delivery of the tractors.

“So I took it upon myself as a former Member of Parliament (MP) for the place, as a leading figure in the place to go and use my money to make a deposit and take these tractors and give them to a committee in my constituency which is not partisan.

Mahama Ayariga made it clear that the committee charged with the responsibility of ensuring that every farmer gets access to these tractors is not a partisan committee. He went on to disclose that indeed the chairman of this committee is not even a member of his party’s constituency executives.

“Indeed the person who is running the committee is a personality who is highly respected by everybody in the Constituency and that is why we put him in charge of managing the tractors,” he noted.

Again, he refuted the statement that the hiring price for the tractors was well above 10 Ghana cedis as published in the stories of the aforementioned newspapers. He emphatically put on record that the hiring price for a framer who needed to plough an acre of his land was 10 Ghana cedis which he indicated was contrary to what has been put out in the public domain by Daily Guide, The Chronicle and The New Crusading Guide.

He said farmers who paid this amount were given access to the tractors. He also debunked the assertion that preferential treatment are given to farmers who are members of the NDC party. He said this story is totally false and untrue, maintaining that there is no partisan consideration for the giving out of the tractors to farmers.

“The whole story that it is only used by NDC party members is totally untrue; the fact is that any farmer at all who has registered and pays the hiring fee of 10 Ghana cedis is allowed access to a tractor, and that there was no partisan consideration for farmers who used the services of the tractors ,” Ayariga reaffirmed.

Furthermore, he discredited the statement that some group of farmers in the Constituency had petitioned the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. He described this aspect of the story as a figment of the imagination of the newspapers.

“No farmer has petitioned anybody at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture,” he observed.

He, therefore, challenged any farmer who has been unfairly treated by the committee to produce receipts for appropriate sanctions to be taken.

Against this background, he called on media practitioners to act professionally and to refrain from the habit of deliberating giving twists to clear situations that are close to the good people of this country.

On President Barak Hussein Obama’s visit to Ghana, Mahama Ayariga said that the President is very upbeat about the trip and explained that apart from the economic benefits, the trip will help project the image of the country internationally.

“The President is happy about the US president’s trip to Ghana and he is therefore looking forward to warmly receiving him,” he added.