[ 2017-02-22 ]

Minority MPs said they would present the true state of the nation

President’s address was selective - Minority
The Minority in Parliament have accused President
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of presenting a
selective message on the true state of the nation
and creating an atmosphere of hopelessness in his
maiden State of the Nation Address to Parliament
Tuesday.

In separate interviews with the Daily Graphic
after the address, some Minority Members of
Parliament (MPs) said the President decided to
focus on the negatives of the past government that
satisfied his purpose and failed to recognise the
positives in order to deceive Ghanaians that he
had inherited a mess, when in fact it was not the
case.

They said the President failed to explain how he
was going to source funding for his free senior
high school (SHS) policy, measures to grow the
economy and create jobs.

The Minority MPs said they would present the true
state of the nation in their debate of the address
on the floor of the House from Thursday and at
other forums.

But the Majority MPs dismissed the suggestion that
the President's message was selective or
deceitful, saying he presented the facts as they
were.

They said the President did not manufacture the
statistics and that they were produced by the
relevant state institutions,

stressing that the Minority MPs were refusing to
accept the fact that their government had not left
the economy in the best of shapes.

Minority's assertions

The Deputy Minority Leader, Mr James Avedzi, said
President Akufo-Addo campaigned on the fact that
the economy was bad and for that matter Ghanaians
should vote for him, but he was telling a
different story now.

"He chose what to say for Ghanaians to believe
him. But we will come out in a debate to address
the facts about the true aspects of the economy,"
he said.

Mr Avedzi, who is a former Chairman of the Finance
Committee of Parliament, said the President only
gave the country's debt in absolute figures but
did not talk about the debt to the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) ratio.

"If you only mention absolute figures, without
relating them to anything, you cannot make any
argument out of that," he said.

Mr Avedzi, who is the MP for Ketu North, said he
agreed with President Akufo-Addo that the past NDC
government missed the revenue target, saying that
was normal with all government sectors.

He denied the President's assertion that the 3.6
GDP growth in 2016 was the worst in the last 23
years and indicated that the Minority "will come
up with all GDP growth rates over the years for
Ghanaians to see”.

He said although the President said the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme had
brought nothing to Ghana, he (the President) was
negotiating with the IMF to extend the ending
period from April 2018 to December 2018.

He expressed doubt over the President’s ability
to achieve the set targets in the economy,
education and other areas.

The MP for Ketu South and former Minister of
Agriculture, Mr Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, said the
President did the normal politicking "where he
focused on what he saw was negative and ran away
from the positives, which really should not happen
outside the campaign”.

"For example, he mentioned that we left behind
unprecedented debt, but what he failed to tell the
country is that we left behind unprecedented
infrastructure," he said.

He said what the President called debt was
investment in infrastructure which was needed to
propel economic growth and also create jobs.

The MP for Keta, Mr Richard Quashigah, said he was
disappointed in the indication by President
Akufo-Addo that people would have to tighten their
belts because of the tough times ahead.

"It dashes the hopes of the young people who had
expected that with the coming of the new
administration, they were going to get more jobs.
Though he was talking about creating jobs, he was
also signaling there are tough times ahead. That,
for me, is a message of hopelessness; an
indication that the change that you are looking
for will not be now," he said.

The MP for Yapei/Kusawgu and former Deputy
Minister of Power, Mr John Abdulai Jinapor, said
it was true that the debt in the energy sector was
about GH¢2 billion, as indicated by the
President.

However, he said, "when talking about financing,
you don't talk about the debt because as you owe
other people, other people also owe you".

Mr Jinapor said the past government instituted the
Energy Sector Levy and undertook reforms,
investing $490 million in the energy sector,
adding that "we were confident that given a
three-year period, we will pay all the money with
the levies and reforms".

He said the government the energy sector in a
healthy state, with excess capacity and no
'dumsor'.

The MP for Sagnarigu, Alhaji Alhassan Bashir
Fuseini, accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of
deceit for presenting a different picture to
Ghanaians now, as opposed to what they presented
before the elections.

Majority defends statement

The MP for Old Tafo and Minister for Monitoring
and Evaluation, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, told the
Daily Graphic that President Akufo-Addo presented
facts on the true state of the economy and that it
was not an impression.

"People must distinguish between creating the
impression and talking facts. What he told us is
what we have inherited," he said.

Dr Akoto Osei said the President went further to
say that even though he had inherited challenges,
he was not going to give up, and that he would
find innovative ways to change the situation.

He said there was no dispute over the debt-to-GDP
ratio of about 75 per cent, the fiscal deficit and
the 3.6 GDP growth last year.

"Facts are not to be disputed. But the question
is: how are we going to turn the situation around?
We will focus on the positives, but we should let
people know the facts," the MP said.

The Minister of Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie
Akoto, said the statistics presented by the
President were "produced by relevant departments"
and indicated that the Minority MPs "don't want to
face the reality that in their time things didn't
go well”.

"The fact of the matter is that Ghana is not
heaven at this moment. It is not the Garden of
Eden. People are suffering. They don't have jobs,
a lot of youth don't have jobs, there is a lot of
pressure in the pockets of parents. That is the
reality and if they don't want to face it, it is
their own business," he said.

Dr Afriyie Akoto said the President's job was to
accept the reality and provide the much needed
solutions and that was what he did in his
message.

For instance, he said, the ‘Plant for food’
programme was going to create jobs in the
agricultural sector and increase the incomes of
farmers, adding: "That is the practical solution
he is bringing to the country. If the Minority
does not accept it, that is their business."

The MP for Madina and Minister for Inner Cities
and Zongo Development, Alhaji Abubakar Saddique
Boniface, said the President's message was full of
hope for Ghanaians and that it was not for
demonisation.

For instance, he said, the President had outlined
measures to bring relief to Ghanaians, such as the
restoration of teacher and nursing trainee
allowances, the introduction of free SHS, measures
to grow the agricultural sector and boost exports.

Source - Graphic.com.gh

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