Accra, Feb. 8, -Sporting a blue
black suit, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, on Thursday, delivered his
second State of the Nation Address (SONA) to Parliament, in Accra, amidst mixed
feelings from the members of the House.
At the end of the more than one
hour delivery, the President, bespectacled, gave hope to the nation by saying:
“our nation is on the right path; we’ll be a Ghana beyond aid.”
However, members of the Minority
Caucus of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), who had embarked on a
sit-down strike the previous day, and clad in mourning clothes, used the
occasion to register their protest against what they called oppression from the
Speaker and the Majority Leader.
The President’s delivery was in fulfilment
of Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
From the main entrance to the
chamber, the House had prepared itself to receive the First Gentleman of the
Land and Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces.
A cavalry of security personnel made of
the Police and the Military, with their horses, stood sentry under the avenue
trees, painted in the Ghana national colours of red, yellow and green, with the
lawn beautifully manicured for the occasion.
Canopies were mounted on the
lawns and fitted with television sets that fed the people outside with
proceedings in connection with the events of the day.
Various forms of traditional
cultural displays, especially the Kete dance, were performed in anticipation of
the arrival of the President.
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia,
First Lady Rebecca Naa Okaikor Akufo-Addo; Samira Bawumia, wife of the Vice
President were present to listen to the President speak.
The chamber, arrayed in an
interior decoration of drapes in the national colours, played host, in the
public gallery, to Traditional Rulers, Members of the Diplomatic Community, the
Clergy, former Members of Parliament, former and present presidential aspirants
across the nation’s political divide.
And in the guests’ gallery were
Former President Jerry John Rawlings and wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings,
former President John Agyekum Kufuor; and John Dramani Mahama and his Vice
Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur.
Chief Justice Sophia Akufo and
other Supreme Court Judges were present for the occasion.
The entrance of the Speaker was
announced with shouts of “Mr Speaker, Mr Speaker” after which the Marshall, in
a tuxedo, with the national Mace on his shoulder, led a cortege of clerks and
the Speaker into the Chamber.
And when the President arrived,
he inspected a guard mounted in his honour, and walked through the sounds of
traditional drumming and dancing.
And in shouts of Order! Order!,
the Speaker announced his presence, and invited the members for prayers, in
which he beseeched God blessings on the nation. Thereafter, he invited the
Leaders on both Sides of the house to welcome the President into the chamber.
As the President entered the
chamber, the giant drums, accompanied by the sounds from the ‘atenteben’ horns,
throbbed gallantly to herald the arrival of the President in the chamber.
And when the Police Band sounded
the National Anthem, Members of the Minority highlighted the part that said ”
and help us to resist oppressors rule, with all our will and might for ever
more,” repeating it several times before the President began his speech.
“I am happy to be here again in
this august House, a place where I have experienced some of the most memorable
moments of my political career, and made some cherished friendships across the
political divide,” President Akufo-Addo, former member of the House, then
representing the people of Abuakwa South in the Eastern Region, said.
Midway in his speech the
president quoted an Ewe proverb; Nuveve la, wo da ne le ze veve me, to wit,
“that which is important, you cook in an important pot, sending the whole House
into laughter.
It was another sight at the MPs
cafeteria when former President John Mahama, also a former legislator joined
colleagues in a rice meal.
GNA
No comments:
Post a Comment