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THE STATE OF OUR NATION
TODAY – What you were looking for
Gideon Sackitey, Accra
February 11, 2007
The 2007 State of the Nation Address was
delivered by President John Agyekum Kufuor on
Thursday amidst “yeah’, “yeah” cheers, but alas
to a Parliament halved by an aggrieved minority,
the National Democratic Congress Party.
The president's speech covered a wide range of
issues concerning the vast majority of
Ghanaians. Someof these issues have plagued the
nation for several decades and have to this day
not been effectively solved to make the pace of
development readily felt and appreciated.
The Address itself was quite “exhaustive”,
“comprehensive”, “complete” and was variously
described by the impressive crowd of Service
Commanders, Council of State, academia,
religious leaders, business community and what
have you as, of course, “very good.”
Cardinally, the address had heavy doses of steps
to revive the nation’s floundering energy and
power situation, economic performance, public
sector reform, education, health, sports, social
service, good governance and trade and industry.
For many, the issue of energy was most
important. It has been
number one on the minds of many. No! I am not
talking about the fact that the energy rationing
programme is worrying residential customers!
Definitely no. Not that they do not matter. They
do!
My major concern is to the numerous industries
scattered across the country on which families
depend to survive. The large number of workers
who have had to go home and yet still that large
number of industries that have
had to shut down and
the many others
that have reduced their work force,
because the bottom-line is
they can no longer
support such work force with such low
productivity.
Therefore,
the news that
government has taken short to medium term
measures to put an end to the embarrassing and
expensive load shedding to which society and
industry have been subjected to over the past
six months is most welcome.
Besides, there are measures to include supply
from the West Africa Power Pool where, according
to President Kufuor there will be within two
weeks, supplies from Nigeria and Cote D’Ivoire
to the tune of 200 megawatts.
Volta River Authority, the nation’s only power
generating company is also poised to establish a
300 megawatt plant in Tema. It is also building
another emergency plant to supply 126 megawatts
of power by August this year.
Additionally, the Osagyefo Power barge, which
really has been standing idle at Effasu-Mangyea
will now, be empowered to produce 120 megawatts.
The last time we were told that it was already
in Tema.
To ensure that the current energy mess is
completely eradicated, a private sector
Ghanaian-Chinese joint venture company is to
produce, in two phases, up to 600 megawatts of
power; at least that’s what the President said
and I want to take him by his word.
Government has also contracted three American
companies to produce up to 110 megawatts by the
end of April. This arrangement would altogether
provide at least 500 megawatts, which is far in
excess of the present shortfall.
The much awaited power plant by a number of
mining companies to provide
80 megawatts in June is definitely coming on.
The President, like I said,
is so obsessed with changing the energy
situation that he once more said government has
initiated action to build another hydro-electric
dam, the Bui dam.
He confirmed the presence in China of Mr Kwadwo
Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic
Planning and Mr Joe Ghartey, Attorney-General
and Minister of Justice to sign an agreement
with the Chinese Exim bank for assistance
towards the construction of the Bui dam which is
designed to generate 400 megawatts of
electricity.
Despite saying and doing all these nice things,
the fact that President Kufuor did not mention
one word of CORRUPTION in his over one hour
speech has raked back sentiments that perhaps he
might have just given up on the fight against
corruption.
Professor Gyimah Boadi, Executive Director of
the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD)
said it was “worrisome” that President Kufuor
did not make mention of corruption even once in
his over one hour statement to the nation.
“Not even to assure the nation that corruption
was receiving the needed attention. It is an
unfortunate omission considering the fact that
the NDC minority party was boycotting Parliament
on an issue such as the jailing of their
Colleague Mr Dan Abodakpi for causing financial
loss to the state.”
He noted that at a time when several
anti-corruption lobby groups had come out with
surveys pointing several fingers at government
inaction to check corruption, especially in high
places.
The same feeling was expressed by Mr Daniel
Batidam, Executive Director of Ghana Integrity
Initiative, local arm of Transparency
International.
“It seems the President is saying that he has
done whatever he can about corruption. No more.”
He noted that at a time when corruption
statistics were so high, for Ghana, the first
time in several years, 3.0 per cent, the
President owed it to the country to tell
everybody what he was doing about the corruption
menace.
Mr Kwamena Bartels, Minister of Information and
National Orientation thinks otherwise. He is of
the opinion that many steps had been taken in
the past and that institutions, including the
courts, were working on corruption and
so the subject needed
not to be featured
in the
president’s State of
he Nation Address.
Personally, I think he should have at least told
us what the Office of Accountability he
established in the Castle was doing, had done or
intends to do! Likewise what offices such as the
Serious Fraud Office (a hemorrhaging
institution), Commission on Human Rights and
Administrative are doing to reduce the high
spate of corruption in the country?
It is important that corruption perception in
the country is eliminated or at least reduced to
the barest minimum. The question however,
remains as to whose responsibility it is to do
so.
But overall, some said
in presenting the State of the Nation's address,
President Kufuor was sincere in examining the
problems of this country
and very forward looking in his
prescriptions.
Gideon Sackitey, Ghanadot.com, Feb. 11,
Accra.
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