Features
Hope for Ghana’s economy
President Akufo-Addo
There is no doubt that the economy of the world, including that of Ghana, is in turmoil and needs to be rescued to ensure that economic recovery is experienced within the shortest possible time. For this reason, the government of Ghana is pursuing some policies that will make it possible to see growth in the various sectors of the economy.
Currently, Ghana is pursuing many policies to ensure that there is economic growth in the next two to five years. The impact of these programmes would be felt by the people from about 2024 onwards.
IMF SUPPORT
Already, the government has successfully managed and completed the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) and has received the approval of the International Monetary Fund for its support. This took effect in May of this year. In spite of this, the Ministry of Finance is also seeking negotiations with China to cancel some of her debt. It shows how serious and committed the government is as far as debt management is concerned.
A few years ago, the government screened the banking sector, and all fraudulent institutions were disapproved while others were merged. This measure will ensure greater efficiency in the banking sector. An efficient banking sector is what we need to run Ghana’s economy.
MANPOWER NEEDS
Apart from cleaning the banking sector, the free Senior High School system is also running successfully, and this has been done together with the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme to develop the manpower needs of this country. The most important asset in this country is its manpower needs, so if it is properly developed, it will make it possible for an efficient labour force to manage the affairs of the country when it comes to issues in all the sectors of the economy.
DIGITISATION
The government has adopted digitisation as a key policy objective and has recently introduced a number of programmes designed to develop a more digitally accessible public sector and encourage transparency and efficiency in order to drive growth in all aspects of the country’s economy.
STRONG INDUSTRIAL BASE
Again, the One District One Factory (1D1F) is growing in various parts of the country. This is in support of building a strong industrial base for the country. These will help reduce our dependence on imports when it comes to industrial products that can be processed locally. It is a good programme that must be continued at all cost.
What is more, the Planting For Food and Jobs programme has helped the country get enough food for its citizens even when the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected the country. All these are indications that the country is on the right course.
Other programmes, such as One District One Dam, are all meant to produce useful results in the agricultural sector. It is expected that these and other programmes will make the needed positive impact and move the country forward.
IMPROVED SECURITY
In addition, security is very important, and the government is doing what it can to strengthen all security agencies. The police have just been given 100 pickup vehicles and over 500 motorbikes, as well as other gadgets to operate more efficiently. Many of these gadgets have been provided for the police since 2019, and it goes to show that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo values security in this country.
Apart from this, the military has also been given their fair share of what they need since 2018. The support includes vehicles, equipment and accommodation for officers and men in the Armed Forces.
Other forms of support in the form of accommodation and equipment have also gone to the Fire Service and Prisons Service, among others.
In addition, many personnel have also been recruited for training. The recruitment has been done to beef up men and women in all the security agencies.
Training for them is also ongoing. The training is meant to make them more efficient.
HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
One thing that cannot be forgotten is the health sector. Apart from the 307 ambulances dispatched to operate in all constituencies in the country, drones and other health equipment have also been made to operate throughout the country to improve the healthcare system.
Additionally, district and regional hospitals have been built in all parts of the country. This is under the programme known as Agenda 111. All these and many others show that the government is very focused on its progamme and will not be distracted by its political opponents.
Ghanaians must be grateful that we have a government that is looking into the future to meet the needs of its people. What the government needs is support to enable it to continue to improve the economic welfare of all Ghanaians.
If we all do this, the sky will be the limit.
Email address/WhatsApp number of author:
Pradmat201@gmail.com (0553318911)
By Dr. Kofi Amponsah-Bediako
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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