Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and the senior citizens during the programme
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has expressed government’s appreciation for the contributions and sacrifices of the aged in Ghana’s developmental agenda over the years.
According to Dr Bawumia, the nation’s aged persons are a valuable human resource, whose contribution to national development cannot be over-emphasised.
He, therefore, reiterated government’s commitment to implementing policies and programmes geared towards ensuring the comfort and wellbeing of those who have served the nation all their lives and are now on retirement.
“Let me express the profound gratitude of President Akufo-Addo, and all Ghanaians to you for the dedicated and persevering service you have rendered to this country. Yes, some of us may be slow, some of us may have our challenges, but we believe that there is still a lot more capabilities in you. I urge you to continue sharing your experience and wisdom to building a good society for the future. You are still our valuable human resource.”
Vice President Bawumia indicated that government, through interventions such as the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme, has provided direct monetary transfer grants to some 259,853 persons, who are 65 years and above in extreme poor households; activation of over 500,000 NHIS cards for persons aged 70 years and above; and the soon-to-be-introduced ‘Freedom Pass’ for aged persons to assist them gain priority access to social services such as transport and health that they may require.
Dr Bawumia disclosed this at this year’s Senior Citizens’ Day Luncheon in Accra on Sunday, 1st July, 2018, which is also the date on which the country attained its republican status.
“Our cherished and veteran senior citizens, I know that at this stage of your lives, you are more desirous to see the progress of a country that you have and continue to help build. Government recognizes this and I will want to assure you on behalf of the President that we will do all we can to make Ghana a better resting place for the aged and retirees,” he assured.
He implored Ghanaians to consider the significance of the Republic Day in the nation’s history and set aside their political, ethnic and religious differences and help build the country and make it a force to reckon with on the African continent.
Ghana is said to be having over 1.6 million senior citizens.
Dr Bawumia believes this is a significant group of the citizenry that requires specific and targeted attention to ensure the protection of their rights and wellbeing to maintain their continuous contribution to society.
The National Policy for the Aged Persons of 2006 gives guidelines for programmes and actions to improve the life of the elderly persons.
He, therefore, encouraged the Ministry of Gender, Children & Social Protection to see to the implementation of the policy for lasting improvements in the lives of the aged in society.
That, he said, was because “the plight of the aged is something that we must at all times seek to be concerned about and work tirelessly each day to help address. In this case, we will be able to augment government’s efforts and interventions towards the wellbeing of the aged.”
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent