Eric Opoku, the Minister for Food and Agriculture, has told the beneficiaries of the government’s Nkoko Nkitinkiti initiative to consume some of the birds but not everything.
The Agric Minister urged beneficiaries to treat the programme as a business venture by selling most of the birds they rear.
Eric Opoku noted that beneficiaries are likely to use some of the birds for household use but urged them to prioritise expanding their stock and selling the rest to generate income.
Speaking on The Future of Poultry Beyond Nkoko Nkitinkiti on Friday, July 17, the minister stated, “You have been given the birds, and you are a human being, so you cannot leave them there and go to the market to buy chicken once you have it.
So consume some, but don’t consume everything. See it as a business and as seed that can help you expand your poultry enterprise…In any case, what are birds raised for? Are they clocks to be fixed on the wall for people to look at? ”
Meanwhile, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Minority Leader in Parliament, has called on the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to investigate beneficiaries of the government’s Nkoko Nkitinkiti Programme who allegedly consumed the birds.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, Afenyo-Markin quizzed the NDC government if they are going to take their party members who consumed the Nkoko Nkitinkiti, which were meant to be reared, to EOCO for accountability.
Afenyo-Markin argued that the Nkoko Nkitinkiti were provided under a state-funded intervention designed to support livelihoods and boost poultry production, and therefore beneficiaries who consumed them should be held accountable for the misuse of public resources.
On the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, July 14, during discussions on the implementation of the programme, Afenyo-Markin stated, “They have eaten it. They were supposed to rear the birds and sell and reinvest. Now that they have consumed the birds, what will become of them? What is the accountability in it?”
The Minority leader highlighted that if the Mahama government is pursuing accountability in the use of public funds, Nkoko Nkitinkiti beneficiaries who consumed the birds should also be investigated.
“You guys are talking about accountability, so your party members who got the birds that they said they have consumed and have given evidence to the Minister, are you going to send them to EOCO? Because it is state funds, it also amounts to looting; however, the amount,” he said.
Also, Fiifi Boafo, the former Head of Public Affairs at the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has said the Mahama government’s Nkoko Nkitinkiti programme is a waste of state resources.
According to Fiifi Boafo, the Nkoko Nkitinkiti programme is incapable of creating sustainable poultry businesses.
He quizzed the rationale behind distributing only a few birds to beneficiaries.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Friday, July 10, Fiifi Boafo stated, “The Nkoko Nkitinkiti is a complete waste of state resources, nothing more, nothing less”.
“If you say that you are giving people chickens to rear and you give them two, what are they going to use them for? If not for them to just enjoy them, what business can anybody create with two? What sort of model is that?” he questioned.
“What was the target? What did we seek to realise from this? What has been the result after a year?” he asked.
“Has it reduced imports, and by what percentage? What are the savings that we’ve made? How much money have we invested in it, and what benefit have we received as a result?” he said.
He added, “What was the business model around this whole Nkoko Nkitinkiti, and how many chickens do we give to people? Initially, we were told 50, reduced to 15, now to two”.
“So it just demonstrates the point that what the government claimed it was going to do totally failed. They did not realise it.”
“Ask yourself, five chickens, what are you going to do with that? Which business are you going to run with five?” he asked, describing the initiative as “just an unnecessary use of state resources.”
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