The Member of Parliament (MP) for Kumbungu, Mr Ras Mubarak, has described President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s last State of the Nation Address (SONA), for his first term in government, as an empty and unimpressive one.
In an interaction with the media on the address by the President, he intimated that, the President’s projection of a strong economic growth was a far cry from the reality, adding that Ghanaians across the country had not seen any such growth as mentioned by the President.
Mr Mubarak made the comment in a reaction to President Akufo-Addo’s last State of the Nation Address (SONA) to the Seventh Parliament of the Fourth Republic, as demanded by the 1992 Constitution to the Seventh Parliament which dissolves today, 6th January, 2020.
As part of his SONA address, President Akufo-Addo stated among other things that his government was able to implement major flagship programmes, achieved single-digit inflation, and reduced fiscal deficits with three consecutive years of primary surpluses.
He added that, it also ensured relatively stable exchange rate, significant improvement in the current account with three consecutive years of trade surpluses, strong foreign exchange reserve buffers, and markedly reduced lending rates.
However, Mr Mubarak said Ghanaians did not feel the change the President talked about over the last four years, adding that people were still struggling to survive.
He intimated that, many businesses were at a standstill as a result of the COVID-19 and even before that there were genuine difficulties within the country.
Mr Mubarak expressed dismay at the silence of President Akufo-Addo over the numerous cases of violence and death witnessed in the December 7, 2020 elections.
Opposing to this comment, Mr Fuseini Issah, the Member of Parliament for Okaikoi North, however described the President’s presentation as excellent, given the number of achievements chalked by his government within the last four years.
He posited that, the December 7 general elections were generally peaceful and that the violence witnessed were just isolated cases.
“The Police have already started investigations into these cases and I’m hopeful the culprits will be brought to book.”
Mr Issah lauded President Akufo-Addo for paying respect to the memory of the First President under the Fourth Republic, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, who, sadly, passed away on 12th November, 2020.
President Akufo-Addo delivered his last State of the Nation address for his first term in office yesterday, January 5, 2021, in Parliament.
The presentation was in line with Article 67 of the 1992 constitution, which states that “the President shall, at the beginning of each session of Parliament and before a dissolution of Parliament, deliver to Parliament a message on the state of the nation.”
In his address he touted the achievements thus far by his government in the various sectors such as health, agriculture, education, infrastructure amongst others undertaken by his government, to the current Parliament which will be dissolved today, Wednesday, January 6, to make way for the inauguration of the 8th Parliament towards the investiture of the President-Elect and the Vice President-Elect.
