President assures deliverance of pledges

Accra, Nov. 16, - President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday assured that he would deliver on the pledges made to Ghanaians when he sought their mandate during the period leading to the 2016 elections.

Already, his administration, he said, had initiated far-reaching policies and implemented programmes that were putting the country's economy back on the path of growth and development.

“I am very keen that, the promises that we made to the Ghanaian people, the pledges we made about what we would do when we come into office, the people of Ghana see that we are fulfilling those promises.

"It is important for trust and governance, it is important for trust and politicians, that they should be seen to be people of their word,” he said when he met the Ghanaian community resident in Doha, Qatar, as part of his three-day official visit to that country.

Noting that governance was hinged on moral integrity, transparency and accountability, President Akufo-Addo said it would not be good for governance when political office holders find reasons not to undertake the promises they make.

“When you commit yourself, it is because you are sure that you can do it, and all the commitments that we have made, gradually, systematically, we are beginning to realize them, because they are things we thought about long and deep in opposition, and we believed that they were the way to put our country on the road to progress and to prosperity,” he said.

The President said his government upon assumption of office, had been preoccupied with putting the country's macro-economy back on track, after inheriting an unhealthy economy, with widespread unemployment, ‘dumsor’, and the major issue of corruption.

“So it was necessary to put the macro-economy back into shape, and I believe we have done well already. We committed ourselves to reducing the deficit from 9.6 percent to 6.3 percent this year. We are meeting that target,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo said his government has been able to find money to implement, within the period of 11 months, three key things, namely the Free Senior High School Policy, the Programme for Planting for Food and Jobs and the revival of the National Health Insurance Scheme. 

He said government had also stabilised the power situation, stating, “we are not going to get anywhere in the industrial development which we are desperate about if we don’t have reliable supply of power. We can’t get anywhere".

“We are beginning to forget that there was a time when we had ‘dumsor’ in Ghana. The situation is now stabilizing, and in this year’s budget, we are making a proposal to the PURC to bring down electricity tariffs, to be able to stimulate industrial development.”

These interventions, the President said, would uplift the Ghanaian economy, and serve as the platform for the country’s industrial enterprises to become more competitive.

“That is the way that we are going to create wealth in our country, if our industries are working, expanding, producing and exporting,” President Akufo-Addo noted.

GNA