The Member of Parliament for Mpraeso, Davis Ansah Opoku, has intimated that the President, in his State of the Nation’s Address, told Ghanaians the realities the country is currently facing.
The Mpraeso MP disagreed with claims that the President did not touch on issues important to the citizenry. He stated that the President came to make public the initiatives being taken by government to get the nation back to normalcy.
“The President told the people the realities that the country is currently facing. So, in health, he talked about how we will be producing vaccines locally and it is all in the spirit of the Ghana beyond aid and how we will be able to cater for ourselves as a country. Because, if for nothing at all, COVID-19 taught us one big lesson, that it’s about time that we began to look after ourselves.”
Davis Ansah Opoku
Touching on the current economic state of the country, he averred that steps are being taken to ensure that everything falls in place. According to him, everything was fine and things were gradually getting better until 2020 where COVID-19 got to everyone.
Davis Opoku iterated that COVID-19 had a negative effect on the economy. Due to this, he averred that projects government needed to undertake has been stalled which he described as devastating. He intimated that the situation hasn’t helped the economic state since funds had to be channeled to mitigating the impact of COVID-19. He disclosed that Free SHS had to be sustained and government workers who were at home “who did virtually nothing” had to be paid causing more cost to government.
“There were shortfalls in revenue generation which had to be attended to. Certainly, every sphere of our economy got affected. In healthcare delivery, things were expected to be done; we had to find money to go and procure vaccines and we needed to provide PPE’s for health workers.”
Davis Opoku Ansah
President didn’t address some issues
Also contributing to the discussion, the Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor, stated that the President, in his address to the nation, did not touch on salient issues.
According to Mr. Dafeamekpor, the Minority were hoping that the President will speak about the education related issues which is brewing hot debates. Mr. Dafeamekpor averred that the Minority was also hoping that he will speak on the issue of the legal educational system but that was not done.
“I was hoping that he will touch legal education because the President himself is a lawyer. That over 1000 students wrote exams some didn’t pass the interview but it had to take legal council to admit them? I was expecting him to address that.”
Rockson Dafeamekpor
Touching on the President’s admission to the overly ambitious nature of the Agenda 111 hospitals, he averred that the President isn’t being forced to undertake such a project at a go and as such can undertake some and not all. Touching on roads, he intimated that he is yet to identify the roads the President indicated has been constructed in the country.
The South Dayi Member of Parliament admonished government to attend to the abandoned infrastructural projects in the country. He stated that educational facilities across the country, especially, need attention.
“If we consider education and the number of infrastructure that they are supposed to put in place towards formalizing and actualizing free SHS, [for] TVET there is improvement that I have to admit. But in respect of the secondary schools, lots of projects are in the state of abandonment.”
Rockson Dafeamekpor
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