“Agenda For Jobs On Course” – President Akufo-Addo
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo, says the although his administration has only been in office
for 15 months, the track record of Government, in the first year,
indicates that the Agenda for Jobs, which formed the basis upon which he
won the 2016 election, is on course.
According to President Akufo-Addo, “many of the
identified flagship projects under the Agenda have already been
launched, some are being effectively prepared, and others planned for
their imminent take-off.
The President noted that the gloomy picture of the
Ghanaian economy, inherited from the predecessor Mahama government, has
been reversed, and it is on a defined road of revitalization.
“The defined actions include the effective management
of the economy with assertive fiscal, monetary and debt controls;
establishing a national digital addressing system; launching of the
10-point industrialization agenda, including the “One District one
factory” initiative; establishing a national tax evasion hotline;
creating the Development Authorities for the Northern, Middle Belt,
Coastal zones of our country; instituting the Zongo Development Fund;
and the facilitation of an electronic payments system, especially for
salaries and utilities, he said.
President Akufo-Addo made this known on Wednesday,
11th April, 2018, when he launched Government’s 7-year Co-ordinated
Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies, at the Accra
International Conference Centre, Accra.
“The revamping of our economic and social
infrastructure is on course; “dumsor” has ended, through the improvement
of financing, generation, transmission and distribution of electrical
power; the renovation and expansion of the railway network to northern
Ghana is being pursued vigorously; and the revival of the transportation
systems for the Volta Lake and the Eastern Corridor road have been
initiated,” he said.
The President told the gathering that the fight
against illegal mining is on course, with some of the rivers showing
visible signs of recovery.
Touching on agriculture, he noted that the sector has
exhibited the initial signs of transformation, with the implementation
of the programme for Planting for Food and Jobs.
The “one village, one dam” initiative, which, he
said, will be launched momentarily to cover the northern parts of the
country, would help bring farmers closer to sustainable, all-year-round
agricultural production.
“The social sector of Ghana is working again, with
the implementation of the free Senior High School policy, the
strengthening and alignment of Technical and Vocational Education
Institutions; the facilitation of the ICT Programme in schools, and the
continuation of the rationalization and expansion of educational
infrastructure,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo continued, “The restructuring of
the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has been initiated, with an
intense stakeholder consultation process, whilst the Livelihood
Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme has been expanded to cover
more households.
The Ghana School Feeding Programme has also been
expanded to cover additional communities. The Affirmative Action Bill is
under consideration by Cabinet, and the proportion of the Disability
Fund of the District Common Fund has been increased.”
Under Governance, President Akufo-Addo noted that a
programme for the amendment of the relevant articles of the Constitution
to pave way for the direct election of MMDCEs, and bring full democracy
to local government, has been defined; with the constitutional
processes for the reorganization of our regional governance structure,
the first in the history of the 4th Republic, to bring government closer
to the people to accelerate development, currently underway.
“The Office of the Special Prosecutor, and the
identity of its first occupant, have been effected; the Right to
Information Bill has been presented to Parliament; the Public Sector
Reform Strategy has been reviewed, and will be launched in a few weeks
from now, whilst reforms of our system of public procurement are
on-going,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo stated that actions have already
begun on many of the flagship programmes under the Agenda for Jobs, and
the remaining will witness inception shortly.
“It is my conviction that the effect and impact of
these initiatives, and many others articulated in the document, will go a
long way to ignite and sustain the transformation we are craving for
our nation, and bring us close to achieving the Sustainable Development
Goals,” he added.
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