More than five independent presidential aspirants have expressed interest in Ghana’s general elections, come December 7, 2024.
One notable contender is Richard Sumah, a 46-year-old marketing consultant from Shia, a farming community in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region.
On Friday, June 14, 2024, Sumah announced his intention to run for president, during an event in Accra to unveil his political agenda.
In a virtual engagement with youth from the Ho Municipality following the launch, Sumah shared his vision and plans for Ghana, which he described as “beautiful ideas” he believes are divinely inspired. His primary focus is addressing the country’s unemployment issues through various sectors, including agriculture, mining, and skills development.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the unemployment rate in Ghana rose to 14.7 percent in the first three quarters of 2023. The number of unemployed youth aged between 15 and 35 increased from about 1.2 million to over 1.3 million during the same period, comprising more females than males.
Sumah aims to tackle these challenges by investing in 16 million small businesses across Ghana’s 16 regions within six months and creating at least 10 million jobs within two years. He envisions the establishment of the ‘Ghana Farmers Brigade, developed and set up large commercial state farms managed by the engineering wing of the Ghana Armed Forces to serve as raw material bases for industries, thereby creating numerous jobs.
Sumah plans to create the Ghana Builders Corp, comprising skilled workers such as carpenters, masons, steel benders, plumbers, electricians, tillers, and painters. This paramilitary agency, managed by the army’s engineering wing, would focus on basic infrastructure development.
For the mining sector, Sumah proposes establishing The People’s Mineral Mining Corporation in partnership with the private sector to streamline mineral extraction and integrate informal miners into a single entity.
To encourage self-employment, Sumah intends to improve access to credit with low interest rates for small and medium enterprises, fostering entrepreneurship through a venture capital system.
Addressing the skepticism from some youths about the feasibility of his plans, Sumah confidently asserted, “It is doable”. He emphasized his belief that God had sent him to transform the country’s mindset. He rejected the notion that money should determine political success.
According to reports, it is said that one needs around one hundred million dollars in budget to prepare and execute their grand political projects to become president in Ghana, a narrative Sumah aims to change. He argued that spending such an amount on elections equates to buying one’s way to the top.
Sumah stressed that his policies were focused on homegrown solutions designed to make Ghana self-sufficient and independent, reducing reliance on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and international donors.
He called on visionary youth to join his mission to rescue Ghana from the current leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
