An aspiring parliamentary candidate of the New Patriotic Party for Takoradi Costituency, Richard Essuman Addison, has observed that the over-reliance on mass employers like Port of Takoradi and other government agencies has been a major contributing factor to unemployment in Takoradi.
According to him, it is regrettable to see enterprising young men and women who could have gone ahead to employ themselves and others and become world-class entrepreneurs who have become dampened because they don’t get employment “at Port of Takoradi, Ghacem, fire service and in recent times the oil and gas sector.”
“And it is not their fault. The problem is who to direct them, help and guide them to discover themselves and point them to other equally edifying opportunities. That, is what Takoradi is missing.
“Many people will recall that Sekondi-Takoradi once had a multi-million-dollar timber industry employing thousands. Where is it now? The ability of government agencies to employ more people is reducing therefore we need alternatives and we need them now.
Speaking to journalists after his vetting, he said time is ripe for young people to take their destiny into their own hands by empowering themselves and creating business opportunities for themselves.
“As a successful young entrepreneur, I have seen the enormous potential in this direction. I have done extensive studies on self-empowerment and I stand ready to take charge in starting a revolution which will yield hundreds of young entrepreneurs in years to come in Takoradi with their footprints all over Ghana.”
He said: “What I will need is for delegates in Takoradi to see my vision, buy into it and give me the mandate and I make a solemn promise that I will work all my life to make Takoradi great again.
Rumour
Richard Essuman mounted a strong defence when asked about a rumour making the rounds that another aspirant is sponsoring him to tilt the vote in favour of that “ghost aspirant.”
“I am challenging anyone with any evidence that I am being sponsored by whoever to come forward. What you hear are unsolicited and feeble attempts to make me lose focus. That will be their loss. I remain fully focused.
He said: “These baseless claims only show you that I am seen as a competition and rightly so because Takoradi deserves the best, Takoradi deserves fresh ideas and I represent that. These elementary claims show that people are bereft of ideas. That is what is at play. If not, why don’t you talk about what you can do.”
“If you think you deserve the mandate of Takoradi, tell them why, and engage in a campaign of ideas for real solutions to the myriad of problems facing Takoradi. That I believe, is what the good people of Takoradi so deserve.”
“This election is not a do-or-die affair. It is a family contest and should be made to be such. I expect a clean, free and fair campaign leading to a desired outcome. An outcome that will unite this great party and not divide it.
Number one
Richard Essuman Addison is number one on the ballot paper and describes it as an endorsement from God.
“Number one means a fresh start, a fresh perspective, a mark of a new era. An assurance that hope, beckons. The delegates should trust me and I will trust them in equal measure.”
