Audio Attachment: Listen to Major Derek Oduro |
Deputy Minister for Defence, Major Derek Oduro has expressed disgust over the progress of the Kumasi Shoe Factory.
He was unhappy about the factory's work output since establishment and also bemoaned the number of workers at the factory.
During a tour at the Kumasi Shoe Factory, Hon. Derek Oduro was shocked to find out that the factory has only 49 workers.
According to him, he anticipated to find over 300 workers on his way to the factory and was therefore dismayed by the numbers.
He also lamented about what he termed as lack of proper planning and managerial skills by the management of the factory, hence resulting in the unproductiveness of the Kumasi Shoe Factory.
The embittered Deputy Minister noted that the Kumasi Shoe Factory was established to serve a good purpose by supplying goods to several entities like the Armed Forces and to countries like Cote D'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and so forth, and Ghana at large.
But the factory has failed to serve its purpose and has producing sub-standard goods which have no market value.
He therefore called for proper measures to revamp the factory and assured that the government will salvage the factory from its defunct state.
Revived some four years ago, the Kumasi Shoe Factory has had a mixture of good and bad luck during its operations.
Although the company was revived with the promise by the government to be the sole manufacturer of all the shoes for the Ghana Armed Forces and other security agencies in the country, this promise is yet to be fulfilled.
The company, with the capacity to produce over 700, 000 shoes and sandals annually and ability to employ more than 2,500 people, is still a pale shadow of its prospects.
History
The shoe factory was the footwear division of the erstwhile Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation (GIHOC), established by the first President of the country, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah in 1960. It was to produce boots for personnel of the public security services and the general public.
Following the overthrow of Dr Nkrumah, the company collapsed and was revived in November 2012 through collaboration between a private investor, Czech-based company, Knights, and the Defence Industries Holding Company (DIHOC) of the Ministry of Defence.
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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it is a shame when you have minister's of state whining like babies, nana promise one district, one factory, so therefore if there is existing factory that is not performing, just revamp it, so where from all this complaints, people complaint if they do not have solution to a problem, if you do, you will just fix it
Why do we continue to do this to ourselves. Greedy politicians frame all sorts of lies just to justify their dubious agenda. Kumasi Sheo factry was revived by Mahama. He has done his quota. Do yours to sustain it but do not throw dust in our eyes. It was non existent until Mahama revived it last two years. How can it be that is collapsing again. Spare us tis ***barred word***!!!!
we no go fit get a leader like Nkrumah again.
The simple but painful truth is that any venture not grounded on sound economics will fail. I am sorry but we must check out the economics first before reviving so called dead industries and also putting up new ones. Similar fate awaits several of the one district one factory initiative if they are not well grounded in sound economics. lets take the politics away and do an objective analysis. My senior colleague found it more profitable to produce alcohol from refined sugar imported into Ghana than from unprocessed cassava or dried cassava produced in Ghana. Why? The raw material base is weak.
it is hard time we think out of scope! i was born and grew up in then a great factory! The management of this said company mismanage the company to collapse. The simple solution is just little investment in the raw material and manpower. Then integrate it into the free education initiative as well as the purposed target the the security service (ready market). Sum up the number of schools in Ghana and guess the number of jobs we will create. This company help my father to put me where i am today
it is hard time we think of scope. i was born and grow up in then a great factory! The management mismanage the company to collapse. The simple solution is just little investment in the raw material and then integrate it into the free education initiative and the security service (ready market). Sum up the number of schools in Ghana and guess the number of jobs we will create. This company help my father to put me where i am today
@bellz,I agree with you on that.i am from Congo and I was dating a Ghanaian girl for six months,I stayed in Ghana for a while and realized the country got potentials but the problem is bad governance and management.I think Ghanaians are good people but they luck wisdom...
The inability of the mgt to manage the shoe factory has nothing to do with raw materials, but rather lack of market for finish products.
So Ghanaians can't manage anything in this world...why are you people so sstupid,u can't manage a common shoe factory? U keep chewing wele with okro soup when u can use the leather for belt and shoes which can be sold to the Ghanaian people,u can't manage it...God has really regret creating you people!!!
Does the deputy minister knows what it takes to employ 300 people? Has he found out what really is the cause of the security agencies not buying from the shoe factory but from China and India? Does he understands what the contract terms states with regards to the roles f both parties involved to run the shoe factory? Has he bothered to find out the level of investment from both parties involved? He should give us a break and do his homework well and stop talking loosly