President John Dramani Mahama is expected this morning to present a report on the status of the country as he appears before Parliament to give his last State of the Nation Address.
His address would cover the economic and social gains made as well as the various challenges that faced the country in the past year, and the various interventions being taken by the government to push further the development of the nation.
The address, which is delivered annually, is in accordance with Article 67 of the country’s constitution which states: “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.”
Ahead of the presentation of the address, some political parties told TV that the various sectors of the economy have been characterized by crisis, which has had a toll on not just the economy but workers.
They thus expect the President come up with clear measures that could help address the crisis in order to turnaround the fortunes of the country
According to them, they expect President Mahama to update the people of Ghana on the power situation, which has fairly improved in the last few months having suffered erratic power supply in the past three years that resulted in a load shedding management.
They also want the President to address the issue of internal security, particularly due to the recent unresolved murders, seizure of sophisticated arms and ammunition and the hosting of two ex-Guantanamo Bay detainees in the country, as well as measures being put in place for the security of the upcoming national elections on November 7.
Acting General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, John Boadu, says his party expects the President to outline pragmatic measures to fighting corruption, noting he is doubtful there will be anything new in the address.
“Even now if you advise them to engage in massive infrastructure development, it will be riddled with corruption and over expenditure and over pricing and wouldn’t go through the normal procurement process so I think that what they need to do is to empower the electoral commission,” he said.
Chairman of the People’s National Convention, Bernard Mornah, said the economy is in shambles and concrete steps must be taken to address the problems, and urged the President to tackle unemployment and improve roads to various farming communities within the country.
“We expect the President to tell us the truth of what the main characteristics of our country is. A nation where over 53,000 graduates are churned out every year where less than 5000 of them get employment with over 48,000 not securing jobs. That is a very serious canker,” he stated.
Communications Director of the Convention People’s Party, Kadri Abdul Issifu said his party expects the President to touch on better means of mobilizing revenue for the country’s development other than excessive taxation. They also want expansion of the transportation system
“It appears that the government has forgotten about the railway system in the country. You find that we now have outdated infrastructure in terms of the railway, and we believe as a party the government should come out with clear cut policies and budgetary allocations as concerning the railway sector in the country,” Mr Issifu told TV3.
Chairman of the National Democratic Party, Dr. Josiah Ayeh, said the president must touch on the country’s security.
“I think that they have worked out certain things with the police but those things need to be of course extended, especially in Ashanti and areas where of course Fulani’s and others operate, we got to be able to implement and really implement them well” he said.
