President Akufo-Addo will deliver his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) this morning in Parliament.
The president’s address, which is in accordance with Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution, will touch on progress made in vital sectors of the country’s economy and what remains to be done going forward.
He is expected to touch on taxes, inflation, interest rates, economic growth, debt-to-GDP ratio, rate of debt accumulation, energy and total debt stock.
The president will also comment on international reserves, exchange rate stability, IMF’s extended credit facility programme, which began in 2015, newly-established fiscal councils and developments in Ghana’s oil sector.
Fallouts from the implementation of government’s initiatives – One District, One Factory (1D1F), One Constituency, One Ambulance, galamsey, among others, are highly tipped to feature in the president’s address.
Expectations are high among Minority Members of Parliament (MPs), led by Haruna Iddrisu, who expect to see what the president has done so far in terms of dealing decisively with vigilantism, which is threatening Ghana’s democracy and breeding insecurity.
Mr. Iddrisu, MP for Tamale, said last year that he told the president after his SONA to address the creeping and disturbing issue of political party vigilantism but so far nothing has been done by him.
He expressed the hope that this time round the president would resolutely address the issue for sanity to prevail.
Joseph Yieleh Chireh, National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Wa West and a senior member of the House, also added his voice to calls for vigilantism to be tackled effectively, stressing that political vigilantism was seriously affecting the president’s image as a human rights lawyer.
He, therefore, urged the president to indicate steps being taken to address the issue.
He also advised the president to seriously address the issue of appointing overage people, who are on retirement as heads of public and corporate institutions, saying such situations demoralise young people in the institutions.
“I know the ruling New Patriotic Party has young, intelligent and qualified people in the party, and they should be given the chance to head these institutions to bring fresh ideas into the management of these institutions and improve productivity,” he added.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr