Yaw Osafo-Marfo
PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO has indicated that he is setting up a 10-member committee to work out a charter made of home-grown solutions to the nation’s problems to help realise the vision of ‘Ghana Beyond Aid.’
According to him, the committee, which will be chaired by Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo, will comprise three members each from the government (ministries of finance, employment and labour relations and planning), organised labour as well as the Private Enterprise Federation.
Speaking at this year’s May Day parade in Kumasi, President Akufo-Addo explained that the charter would be subjected to scrutiny and debate by parliament, and later adopted as a follow-up to the Co-ordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies of the nation.
“The nation will then know in detail how we intend to move Ghana to a situation beyond aid,” he indicated, and added that it is propitious that the country completed the fifth and sixth reviews of the IMF Programme on Monday, leaving two more to be done before the completion of the programme this year.
“This takes to three the number of successful reviews achieved by this government since August 2017. The previous administration managed to register just three reviews in three years. The end of the programme means that we will have the space to design our own social and economic programmes, without jettisoning the fiscal discipline and proper economic management necessary to give entrepreneurs the predictability and stability to plan properly, invest boldly to grow their enterprises and create jobs,” he stated.
He had earlier welcomed the partnership of organized labour with the government and the private sector, asserting that the parties could work together to develop home-grown solutions to the nation’s problems.
He lauded the Trades Union Congress (TUC) heartily for the calm industrial climate the nation has enjoyed over the last 16 months, and pointed out that this had been the result of the greater engagement by the tripartite partners, facilitated by the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffuor Awuah, Member of Parliament for Sunyani West.
“I look forward to the continuation of the constructive dialogue with organised labour to find mutually satisfactory solutions in order to guarantee industrial peace,” President Akufo-Addo charged.
He disclosed that as the nation seeks to establish a world-class labour force comparable to any in the world, it is important to address the concerns of workers in the public sector over their remunerations.
The president disclosed, “An inter-ministerial committee has been established by the Ministries of Employment and Labour Relations and Finance to undertake the review of the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP), and to make recommendations for implementation by government.”
Nana Akufo-Addo maintained, “Having operated with the Policy since its inception in 2010, it is time to institute this review.”
From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi