President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, delivered the state of the nation’s address in the Parliament House, in accordance with the law; which states that the President must address the nation before parliament resumes in a year or within the first quarter of the year.
The President first of all acknowledged the presence of his wife; Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Mrs. Bagbin, the former president; John Dramani Mahama, His Excellency John Agyekum kuffuor, various Service Chiefs, members of parliament, members of the Peace Corps in attendance and the former first lady; Her Excellency Konadu Agyeman Rawlings.
“Please allow me to acknowledge and appreciate the significance of the day. Today is a day for the celebration of all women. All women in Ghana and in the world have helped us men, get to where we are today.”
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo addressing the house, stated that parliament stood for a true democracy, thus, the idea shows that government can only govern, with the concerns of the people. He stated emphatically, that after 30 years of a democracy, many might be tempted to take it for granted and however, not remember the collection of the struggles that got the country where it is, in the first place.
“Similarly, one party rule is receding into the dim past. However, because Parliament represents the citizens of the nation, it will always remember us of this struggle. Indeed Mr. Speaker, we must remind ourselves that Parliament symbolizes the restoration of power to the people. 30 years ago, this house convened for the first time to mark the beginning of a democracy.
“We have gotten to a place where a member of the minority side of parliament, presides. This is to a larger extent of the authority of our Parliament. Today, we live in a country where we enjoy freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of a political front.”
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
The President delved deeper into the constituents of a state of the nations address and why it was important to be delivered. He said the state of the nations address was meant to look at what position the state was in yesterday, the position it finds itself in, today and the position it will be in, tomorrow. He touched on the depreciation of the currency in how the state fared in the ‘today’.
Covid-19 Funds Not Misused
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo spoke effortlessly of the fact that the economy was in good shape before the advent of the Covid-19 virus.
“Our economy was doing well until covid 19 and the war in Ukraine took us off course…. Mr. speaker, I will be heard; maybe because of the severity of the present difficulties, some people are unwilling to accept the ruling, in terms of covid-19. Allow me to go on a short trip down memory lane and remind us of what things looked like back in 2020.
“The virus arrived in our country and the rest of the world. Within weeks, our airports, schools and markets were closed. We took many courses and did many things to help curb this. I recall vividly the straight talking, I received from our top scientist for the fumigation of schools, markets, churches, mosques and offices. The few who could afford it, even fumigated their homes.”
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
The president claimed that in dealing with the crisis, he did not come across anyone who was brave enough to offer their services of help. He disclosed how proud he was of the Ghanaian people, who rose to the occasion and showed gratitude for the wisdom people demonstrated, by helping one another during the crisis.
“I thank those who contributed to the covid-19 fund, that was set up to help with our expenditures. It is important that we show that the Covid-19 funds, were not misused. It is critical to inform the people that the crisis we were in together, the money was used for our gain. Nothing dishonorable was done to the funds but was all used, honorably. And I believe any objections from the finance ministry and the audit service, will justify these claims.”
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
Akufo-Addo, raised the point of absorbing over 58,000 workers as permanent workers into the health service. He said he did not regret performing such an act because these were people who worked day-in and day-out to cater for people, in their homes, hospitals and sealed off areas.
“We should be forever grateful for all the work these people did to make us feel safe. All electricity bill was cut short and access to water was given freely, because everyone was encouraged to stay at home. Today, others say that it was a waste, It was an expensive undertaking and not popularly.
“We took the brave decision to open the educational institutions. After the event, some might forget the volume of sanitizer, it took for schools to consume. Mercifully, we did not lose a single child to Covid in school. We thank God that we have survived and we are building ourselves after covid.”
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
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