Prez Mahama: You Can't Continue To Give Freebies...I Wish I Could Supply Free Petrol To Ghanaians

President John Dramani Mahama has promised the nation of better days ahead as he continues to steer the affairs of the State. President John Mahama, addressing senior journalists at the Flagstaff House on Tuesday, assured Ghanaians that this year, 2014 will see new developmental projects initiated by his government. This, according to him, is intended to transform the country and so, mark the "opening of new doors of opportunities" for the citizenry. Speaking to the press during the forum, President Mahama explained the circumstances that led his government to take tough decisions in some sectors, particularly the energy sectors, of the country. Journalist Dzifa Bampoh of Joy FM had asked the president what his administration was doing to mitigate the suffering of the masses particularly when taxes and the prices of utilities have been hiked, adding to the prospect of a general freeze on public sector wages. “Government does not have the investment to be able to do it. You need to bring the private sector in to help to do it. The private sector doesn’t come to set up a thermal plant to sell energy at a loss. And so, you must adjust tariffs to an extent that must it attractive for them to come in…or else, then, you must find money in the budget to subsidize the electricity tariffs.” This, he stated, was done at the expense of providing basic social amenities such as schools (secondary schools) and district hospitals for the people of Ghana. "If I could give free petrol to Ghanaians, I would do so. If I could make energy as cheap as possible, I would do so. But there’s some tough decisions you must take. We have a deficit of energy. We currently have an installed capacity of 20,800 megawatts. Our demand for power is rising by 6 to 7 percent every year. And so, you need to put in more energy generation. “You cannot continue to subsidize. You cannot continue to give freebies when you don’t have the income to be able to support it. And so, that’s the challenge we’re faced with. We have a deficit. Our expenditure exceeds our income at the beginning of 2013 by 12%. We were spending more 12% of GDP every year than we earn. And so you need to balance out your expenditure and income…You must increase your income," and cut down expenditure, President Mahama expounded. He was however optimistic that "2014 is going to be a good year and is going to be the start of good things for Ghana. “For 2014, I’m very positive. I’m upbeat that it’s going to begin the transformation of our country. It’s going to mark the opening of new doors of opportunities for us...Governance is a difficult business. Difficult decisions need to be taken and the mark of leadership is you take difficult decisions when they need to be taken. And that’s what I’ve done."

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana