Mr. Oppong remarked that “substantial parts [of the address] have been about promises instead of what is currently happening.”

“We may have missed the actual requirement of the constitution [Article 67] on this matter because it says the President shall, at the beginning of each session of Parliament and before a dissolution of Parliament, deliver to Parliament a message on the State of the Nation,” he said on The Big Issue.

The most recent State of the Nation address, by President Nana Akufo-Addo, contained a number of projections and proposals, notably when he spoke on sanitation, the creation of new regions, the state of the eastern corridor road, among others.

Mr. Oppong stressed that, there must be a clear difference between the budget statement, which is about projections, and State of the Nation, which should “be to state exactly how the state, the economy, the political environment is like.”

“…But over time, our Presidents have taken advantage and even highlighted more promises. It is becoming like a duplication of what the President does through the Finance Minister. The Finance Minister does this in November and then within two months or sometimes one month, the President too has to come and give the State of the Nation Address,” the lawyer added.

In his view, “the point is to state what it is because what he should do about it would have been stated by the Finance Minister.”

‘State of promises’

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, had earlier described the President’s State of Nation Address as a ‘State of Promises’ after the President’s delivery in Parliament on Thursday.

On the back of the Minority Leader’s comment, Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, said the President’s address was more of a campaign speech and all the president did was talk about what he is going to do instead of what his outfit has done so far.

“Virtually, he was just talking as if he was on a campaign trail, still making promises. Instead of him to be telling us exactly what he has been able to do in 2017, the President wasted all the time talking about what he was going to do,” he said.

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

The post State of the Nation addresses now becoming just promises – Lawyer appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the situation is making Accra unattractive.

In his 2018 State of the Nation Address delivered on the floor of parliament today [Thursday], Nana Akufo-Addo said the government is finding ways to improve upon the country’s transport system to address the problem.

[contextly_sidebar id=”dbIFXD7fEbqddNCsSJqgoFAhkztqNA0q”]“We have to improve upon the transportation system, so that no part of this country feels cut off or deemed too far from the center. That is the most effective way to stop the unsustainable rush to Accra. Traffic jams and overcrowding are making our capital unattractive. There are certain inconveniences that people adjust to, traffic jams are not one of them. We are spending too much time stuck in traffic, it is unproductive, it is not healthy and it is expensive. I fear that one of these days, one more car will join the madness on the roads in Accra and our city will be completely gridlocked,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo suggested that, the government will construct more roads to connect with different parts of the country to reduce the journey times between towns and cities.

“We have to build the roads to open up and link up the various parts of the country. Journey times between parts of the country have to be reduced,” he said.

Most major streets in Accra have gained notoriety for having the city’s worst traffic jam situations.

Some of these roads include the Madina to 37 road, Circle to Achimota road, Ofankor to Pokuase road, and the Tema motorway – Tetteh Quarshie roundabout.

Efforts by previous governments to address the problem seem not to have yielded results as the traffic situation has not improved.

Some analysts have suggested a total review of the country’s transportation system with a shift from the construction of new roads to the implementation of policies that will encourage boarding of commercial buses.

Meanwhile, the government says work it has started expansion work on the Tema-Motorway into a 6-lane motorway from the current 4 lanes.

It also says work on the Pokuase interchange is being undertaken to reduce traffic in that area.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The address is an obligation which enjoins the President to account to the nation through Parliament at least once a year, in line with Article 67 of the constitution.

President Akufo-Addo is therefore expected to account for his stewardship over the last one year.

In general, the President’s address is expected to be heavy on the economy, spelling out how policies he initiated over the last year are likely to impact the living conditions of Ghanaians.

Sectors such as education, agriculture, health and the economy in general, are expected to feature prominently.

He is also likely to put out some figures of jobs created in the last year.

2017 address

His address in 2017 highlighted some of the perceived failings of the Mahama administration his government had to deal with, and also outlined some of the key policies he intended to execute.

The President noted that, the previous government missed almost all the International Monetary Fund targets, whilst leaving the country with a debt stock of GHc122 billion, including a $2.4 billion debt in the power sector.

President Akufo-Addo also held that, Ghana’s economy was in a dire state because the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government had left the country with a GDP rate of 3.6%, which was the lowest the country had recorded in the past two decades.

Some observers expect the GDP rate for 2017 to rise to around 6.3 percent.

Among the government key interventions he outlined were the Free Senior High School policy, the restoration of teacher trainee allowances, restoration of nurse trainee allowances, the review some taxes and levies, and also the review of some power agreements to protect the public purse.

Among some of the key targets met, the Akufo-Addo administration was able to roll out the Free Senior High School policy, restored both teacher and nurse trainee allowances, and ensured the review of electricity tariffs.

Citizen concerns

The President’s address will come amid the protests against the rise in fuel prices, which the government had promised to address in its bid for power in 2016.

Some commercial drivers and consumers of petroleum products converged on the Obra Spot at the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange in Accra on Wednesday to protest.

The demonstration, organized by the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers [COPEC] in collaboration with the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union [ICU], highlighted what were described as broken promises, with respect to the reduction of the prices of petroleum products.

The country’s security situation has also been noted to be precarious by some observers following  an attack on a police station, and the continued instances of political vigilantism that persisted throughout 2017.

The President was compelled to suspend the Upper West Regional Minister, Sulemana Alhassan, over reports he obstructed the course of justice after some NPP youth besieged the offices of the Upper West Regional National Disaster Management Organization [NADMO], and assaulted the Regional Director’s aide.

2017 also saw more brazen attacks by robbers, including the most recent killing of a police officer at the Kwabenya Police station during a jail break.

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

The post Nana Addo delivers State of the Nation address today appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

In his maiden State of the Nation address before Parliament on Tuesday [February 21, 2017], Nana Akufo-Addo accused the previous government to “ballooning” the country’s debt stock to GHs122 billion, from the GHs9.5 billion it inherited from the John Agyekum-Kufour government.

He also revealed that, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, had left office with the country’s GDP rate of 3.6%, which he says is the lowest the country has recorded in the past 23 years.

Below are 5 take-aways on the economy from Akufo-Addo’s address.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

The post #SOTNGhana: 5 take-aways on economy [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Addressing Parliament in his first state of the nation address, the President noted that, the sector has enormous problems that must be addressed urgently.

“We have inherited a heavily indebted energy sector with a net debt reaching $2.4bn as of December 2016. I have to point out the alarming facts that $800 million of this debt is owed to local banks which threaten their stability and that of the whole financial sector. Indeed, the huge indebtedness of the energy sector constitutes the single major hurdle to Ghanaians enjoying reliable and affordable electricity supply,” Akufo-Addo said.

In his address, he noted that the country’s power supply had improved significantly since November 2016, however the sector’s problems “are far from over.”

Akufo-Addo bemoaned the high cost of electricity in the country, which he said greatly affects businesses.

“The current state of the energy situation in our country is unsatisfactory. The problems are enormous; but we must and we will confront them,” he said.

Stating some interventions he will introduce to address the challenges, the President said he will prioritize transparency in the sector by introducing a new tariff policy to reclassify consumer categories.

“We will also reduce significantly some of the levies and taxes on the tariff. At the end of 2016, ECG had signed 43 power purchase agreements, while a further 23 were under discussion. The Government is conducting a review of all the power agreements entered into by the previous government in order to prioritize, renegotiate, defer or cancel outright if necessary in the national interest,” Akufo-Addo said.

He noted that, the government was drawing a national electricity master plan to list the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) on the stock exchange.

‘Enforcement of procurement law’

The president said his government will insist on open and competitive bidding for power capacity procurement agreements.

“…This will not only reduce the cost of power projects and ensure value for money; but also address the problem of unplanned procurement.”

He added that, government will review the Renewable Energy Act to provide further incentives to attract the private sector to invest in the sector.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

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Delivering his first state of the nation address to Parliament today [Tuesday], Nana Akufo-Addo bemoaned what he called fiscal indiscipline that has increased the country’s debt stock to 74 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Too much time, energy and resources were spent in the past in my view, without a deliberate conscious assessment of the impact on jobs and whether or not we were spending wisely to improve the lives of the people, communities and businesses. But I was not elected by the overwhelming majority of the Ghanaian people to complain. I was elected to get things done; I was elected to fix what is broken and my government and I are determined to do just that.”

According to the President, the previous administration also missed all the targets under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme due to reckless expenditure and a mismanagement of the economy.

“I am in a hurry to put a government together. Our economy is in a bad state. Our worse fears have been confirmed. Ghana missed almost all its targets under the IMF Fiscal indiscipline reared its head in 2016. 7 billion cedis arrears had not been recorded. Fiscal indiscipline reared its head in 2016 despite promises in 2012.”

“Ghana’s debt stock in 2008 was 9.5 billion cedis but in 2016 the debt is now 122 billion cedis which is 74 percent of GDP. We will implement tough, prudent and innovative policies to rescue the economy. After eight years of NDC there is no fiscal space. The country now has to borrow for everything. Our economy growth rate has shrunk. Our GDP is estimated at 3.6 percent lowest in about 23 years.

The President said that, the “reality of Ghana’s finances are quite stark as a result of policy choices.”

According to him, “we find ourselves in the situation where Ghana’s total revenue is consumed by three main budgetary lines; wages and salaries, interest and payments and amortisation and statutory payments.”

These three items alone, according to him, account for 99.6 % of Ghana’s revenue.

He said the alarming situation will require his administration to resort to borrowing to finance government projects.

“This means that anything else that government has to do outside of these lines would have to be financed by borrowing or aid. After eight years of the previous government, there is practically no fiscal space left. The persistent result to borrowing for any additional expenditure is also not sustainable. We cannot continue this way with our public finances. I will not allow this economy to collapse under my watch.”

Despite highlighting these challenges, the President said his administration will “reduce significantly the fiscal deficit this year.”

Ghana’s economic growth declining

According to him, Ghana’s economic growth has also declined significantly.

“Notwithstanding the record amount of financial resources of the disposal of the previous government, Ghana’s GDP growth in 2016, including oil, is estimated at 3.6 percent. This is the lowest GDP growth in about 23 years,” he said.
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post I was elected to fix things; not to complain – Nana Addo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The various sectors including Education, Health, Energy and Infrastructure, witnessed some developments under the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

These gains have been emphasized in most of the former President’s public addresses including the state of the nation address.

Among the various promises John Mahama made when he came into office as President, was to end the country’s energy woes, by increasing the national production capacity, to increasing access to quality education by introducing a progressively free secondary education, and building new school blocks.

He also promised to complete and start key road infrastructure projects as well as strengthen the National Health Insurance Scheme.

Most of the aforementioned promises did not achieve 100 per cent fulfillment, but some gains were made.

Here is an infographic with details of the state of some sectors of Ghana’s economy as bequeathed to President Akufo-Addo by former president Mahama.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post #SOTNGhana: State of the nation as Mahama left it [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.