President Akufo-Addo has said he needs another term in office to continue his good works of changing lives and improving the living standards of every Ghanaian.
“Having achieved all these significant milestones, even in the midst of the difficulties we met, I am hopeful that the Ghanaian people would reward my party with another resounding victory in 2020. We will not be complacent, and we will work hard for victory, regardless of the fact that ‘One Good Term Deserves Another’. We need four more years to do more!”
President Akufo-Addo said this at the ongoing results fair which is being held at the the Accra International Conference Centre.
According to him, he inherited a weak economy but has performed well to put back the economy on it feet.
“The banking sector was weighed down by a plethora of poorly capitalised, and weak and insolvent institutions, with potentially grave consequences for the entire financial system. Agricultural and industrial activities were down. Unemployment, especially of the youth, was widespread, against a background of low incomes and high prices,” he said.
However, despite the challenges his administration were faced with, it became very necessary to implement policies and programmes that will revive the Ghanaian economy, improve Healthcare in the country, improve the quality of education and put the country on the path of progress.
“Indeed, many were those who made disparaging remarks about our policies, and went as far as describing them as election gimmicks. However, by dint of hard work, we have implemented these flagship programmes, and we have begun to see their impacts throughout the country, with the overarching vision being to realise our vision of moving Ghana to a situation beyond aid,” he said.
“We are determined to use our resources to build a robust economy that would propel us into the ranks of the developed nations of the world, take our fate in our own hands, and work to bring us to where we do not look for or expect charity,” the President added.
Commenting on Imported Rice into the country, the president said the planting for food and jobs will help reduce Imported Rice.
“By 2022 our country would be self-sufficient in the production of rice. We have also had two bumper years of produce, and, last year, we did not import, unlike in previous years, a single grain of maize. On the contrary, we are now a net exporter of foodstuffs,” he added.
Touching on education, he noted that free SHS is one boldest step NPP government has taken and has helped in so many ways. The Akufo-Addo led administration main aim of introducing this policy is to make education accessible and free to all. The policy has given hope to 100,000 young men and women who would have been in the house after their basic education and about 1.2 million students are currently benefitting from the policy.
“The allowances of nursing and teacher trainees, that were scrapped by the Mahama government, have been restored, and the three hundred and seven (307) ambulances, i.e. 1-Ambulance-1-Constituency, will be commissioned by me on 28th January, 2020, for nationwide distribution”.
On the unemployment situation, he noted that 100,000 graduates have been employed through the Nation Builders’ Corps; 54,892 healthcare workers have been employed; and 66,357 teachers have gotten jobs since he came into office in 2017.
He added that the “One-Village-One-Dam” programme, and the Zongo Development Fund and the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP), are being pursued to stimulate job creation opportunities across the country.
“We have embraced the application of digital technology in the delivery of public services, like the paperless system at the ports, the mobile interoperability system, and the national digital addressing property system,” he added.
The holding of the Results Fair, the President stressed “demonstrates our appreciation of the fact that a lot more needs to be done to achieve the Ghana that we want. It is also an indication of our resolve to secure a better future for all Ghanaians. Although a lot has been achieved over the past three years, there is still more work to be done to transform our country.”