President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo delivered his State of the Nation Address today on the floor of Parliament. The Minority in Parliament, led by Cassiel Ato Forson, has voiced disdain over it.
The President refuted accusations of financial mismanagement by his administration by highlighting several successful steps taken by his administration to improve the situation of the Ghanaian people.
The President assured the House that his government did nothing dishonorable with the COVID-19 cash, dispelling rumors of misuse.
“Mr. Speaker, it is important to show clearly that the COVID-19 funds [COVID funds] were not misused. It is critical that we do not lose the confidence of the people that the crisis they were led to believe we were all in together was abused for personal gains.
“Mr. Speaker, it was government that asked for the COVID funds to be audited and I can assure this House that nothing dishonorable was done with the COVID funds. The responses from the Ministers for Health and Finance on January 23rd and 25th, 2023 respectively have sufficiently laid to rest the queries from the Auditor-General’s report and I believe any objective scrutiny of these statements from the Health and Finance Ministries will justify this conclusion”, he asserted.
On the education sector, the President stressed; “I think we are making progress. The strides we are making in education are already changing lives and changing the narrative. As at this year, nearly 2 million young people have benefited from the free SHS policy. Predictions that the policy will lead to a lowering of standards proved wide, very wide of the mark; on the contrary, the results under the free SHS has shown a systematic improvement. As a result, 2 million young people have either found a way to further education, training apprenticeships or employment because of the free SHS policy.”
The President continued to highlight the various accomplishments of his administration while outlining some of the projects that were undertaken to develop the nation’s infrastructure.
During President Nana Addo’s speech, the Minority Leader, who was seconding the motion for adjournment, retorted to the President, “Our economy is in tatters primarily due to self-inflicted damage. Your government forced it upon us and did nothing to stop it “.
He declared that the President had lost the support of many Ghanaians.
“Mr. President, there is indeed a widespread of despair and disenchantment among our people. Millions of Ghanaians are going through unbearable hardships and excruciating pains. Our economy is in its worse shape in decades.”
He criticized the Akufo-Addo administration for failing to reflect what he saw as the actual situation of the country, claiming “Ghana’s economy is insolvent or bankrupt. This is your score time, Mr. President, and this is the real state of our country “.
“We are currently unable to repay our debts. Ghana has officially defaulted in the repayment of our debts since January 2022. Mr. Speaker, yet, Mr. President, your government is failing to cut down on the size of government and public expenditure. Ghana is witnessing hyperinflation largely because, Mr. President, your government allowed the Bank of Ghana to print GHC 50 billion for the year 2022 and another GHC 4 billion in the year 2023, first quarter.”
“Mr. President, let it be noted that the expenditure financed public expenditure on your over-bloated government expenditure. Our position is that inflation is currently rising. Monetary policy rate is also at 28 percent. Ghana cedi has depreciated by 20% in January alone. Mr. President, unemployment is exceedingly high at the record levels and as we speak, Mr. President, lending rate is at 40 percent,” he added.
