The purpose of the interaction was to take questions from the media, in a manner akin to the meet the press series held for ministries, as part of the New Patriotic Party’s [NPP], one year in office.

Although the Citi Newsroom prepared a series of questions, ranging from the state of the economy to funding for sports, it was ultimately only able to present one to the President, which was centered on the digitization of the formal economy following promises made to ensure that the National ID and mobile payment operability were up and running.

President Akufo-Addo, in response to the question asked by Host of the Citi Breakfast Show, Bernard Avle, assured that the implementation of the National Identification System remained an integral part of his government’s plans, despite an earlier assurance to have the National ID system operational by the end of 2017.

The President said the Legislative Instrument which would have ensured the implementation of the programme, was reviewed by Parliament after it was concluded that it could not effectively support the system.

He, however, stated that, a new Legislative Instrument had been prepared and would be submitted to Parliament when it resumes sitting later in January.

The Citi Newsroom was, however, unable to put forward the seven questions below to the President.

• Economy

“During your State of the Nation Address in February 2017, you said in the immediate term “there will be reforms to unleash the suppressed potential of the economy and allow Ghanaian entrepreneurship to thrive domestically and internationally.” Almost a year on, we still see key sectors of the economy heavily controlled by foreign investors. In banking, almost 80 percent are controlled by foreigners, only eight banks out of 35, are Ghanaian controlled. Same can be said for telecom where we only have a small stake in Vodafone and Airtel. The same situation in mining with 1 percent equity, oil and gas etc. Tell us what has been done so far to ensure a Ghanaian controlled economy?”

• Unemployment

“Mr. President, I like your quote that you cannot argue with figures. I also have a quote for you: what you cannot measure, you cannot manage. What is the exact rate of unemployment in Ghana? Exactly how many new jobs have been created under your tenure?”

• Sanitation

“You borrowed $48 million in August 2017 for sanitation purposes. As a radio station, we have been tracking these issues and one year after your promise, Accra still stinks. Indeed some 40% of basic schools in Ghana, are without toilet facilities and there’s little to show for the sanitation ministry created by your government. Mr President, can you give us timelines that you may have tasked the Sanitation Ministry and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly in these plans to make the city clean?”

• Missing state vehicles

“In February 2017, the Chief of Staff set up a task-force on state vehicles which were yet to be handed over to the government by individuals contrary to the law. There have been claims and counter-claims about how many vehicles were left behind by the previous government. We are also aware based on various claims made by members of your government that some vehicles have indeed been retrieved. How many vehicles have been retrieved so far? Where are these vehicles? And while we are at it, has your government imported the 33 vehicles whose purchase was commenced by the Mahama government?”

• Sports infrastructure and development

“In the Youth and Sports section of the New Patriotic Party manifesto, sports and youth centres were to be set up all around the country. What is the latest with those? How many were built? If zero, what is being done especially in that direction as it contributes to finding the next generation of athletes or sportsmen who will improve our poor performances in international competitions?”

“What was the government’s plan in terms of Sports development? There was a forum held to discuss funding for sports and there was some talk of improving school sports. What else was done in terms of planning and developing sports in Ghana?”

“With the government’s intentions of developing Sports from the schools and finding employment for the youth through Sports, what was the reason for the 30 percent cut in the budget allocated to the Sports Ministry?”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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