Ghanaian actor and politician, John Dumelo, has raised significant inquiries regarding the financial investment made by the government in the One District, One Factory (1D1F) initiative.

He has urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to transparently disclose the progress of his administration in terms of both expenditure on the 1D1F program and the actual number of factories established.

Dumelo pointed out that, despite taking nine months to establish his ginger factory, the government has not even commenced the fulfilment of its factory promise to the people of the Oti region after nearly eight years in power.

“How much has the government spent on 1D1F so far? How many factories are fully functional and operational? Which specific product (being produced here in Ghana) as a result of the 1D1F initiative has reduced our import bill?

"My ginger factory in Oti is not and cannot be under 1D1F. We built that factory in nine Months. It’s almost 8 years and the government hasn’t even laid a block to fulfil their ginger factory promise to the people of Oti,” John Dumelo wrote on his X page.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond, revealed that from 2017 to the present, there are 296 projects in various stages of implementation under the One District, One Factory (1D1F) Programme.

Breaking down the figures, there are 126 operational companies, 143 companies under construction, and 27 companies in the pipeline phase. K.T Hammond shared this information on Tuesday during a parliamentary session while responding to a question posed by Desmond De-Graft Paitoo, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Gomoa East.

Paitoo sought details on the number of factories established by the government under the 1D1F Programme and inquired about the extent of collaboration with private companies or organisations.

In response, Hammond emphasized that out of the 296 factories, 233 were initiated by private-sector business promoters with government facilitation, while the government directly established 63 1D1F projects.

“Mr Speaker, it must be noted that the government’s active facilitation of private sector investment in 1D1F projects consists of special incentives, including tax exemptions and the provisions of interest subsidies on loans granted by Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs). It also includes, where applicable, the extension of critical utilities such as access to electricity and water,” said K.T. Hammond.