According to him, the President’s speech did not reflect the current situation in the country but rather he sought to bombard the nation with a barrage of promises, when Ghanaians are craving for an escape route from the crises that have bedeviled the economy.
Contributing to a panel discussion programme on Radio Gold’s “Alhaji and Alhaji” programme over the weekend, Kwesi Pratt said that though President Mahama spoke lengthily, his address did not carry weight so far as the energy and water crises among other challenges facing the nation are concerned.
To him, the President should have addressed these salient issues which he said are the most pressing needs of the citizenry, instead of following his Predecessors who made several declarations but virtually did not fulfil their pledges to Ghanaians.
He therefore outlined his expectations saying President John Mahama should have also touched on the resuscitation of the defunct Kumasi Shoe Factory which he sees as a major boost in the private sector.
President John Dramani Mahama last Thursday delivered his first State of the Nation address to the Sixth Parliament of the Fourth Republic.
The address was in accordance with Article 67 of the Constitution, which mandates the President to at the beginning of each session of Parliament deliver a message on State of the Nation.
Addressing the nation, the President talked on a variety of issues in several sectors of the economy.
In the education sector, he pledged his government’s commitment to tackling the challenges the education sector is grappling with in order to meet the educational demands on government.
He revealed that under his leadership, government will construct ten satellite campuses to make communication and information dissemination easier in tertiary schools in the country and also expand the on-going school feeding programme to all public basic schools in rural communities.
He further reiterated that government will construct 200 Senior High Schools across the country to resolve the problems confronting second cycle institutions, adding that ten public polytechnics in the nation will be upgraded into full-fledged technical Universities.
In the energy sector, President Mahama noted that his government is making frantic efforts to curtail the nation’s erratic power supply and so, revealed some interventions he is making to rectify the energy problem.
He assured the citizenry that Ghana will increase power generation to ensure that we have reliable power supply and become a net exporter of power in years to come.
He also made very revealing points which seek to either address or boost the progress of the nation in all facets such as agriculture, health, creative arts among others.
In spite of these assurances, Kwesi Pratt however expressed discontent with the President’s speech saying Ghanaians are “fed up” with public officials making excuses which according to him will not ward off the corruptible practices in the various government agencies and public sector organizations.
He wondered why government officials who slack in their duties are not sanctioned and so, believed it is about time President Mahama begins to crack the whip on the inefficient workers in the public sector.
He therefore called on President Mahama to put the necessary structures in place to improve the lives of Ghanaians.
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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