The Other State Of The Nation

President John Mahama

 

A veracious state of the nation should post the true position of the country in the aftermath of the last elections.

The widespread blackouts and the thousands of youth who have lost their jobs and still counting, including the insecurity which is responsible for the inability of results to be declared in a constituency many weeks after elections.

Bawku is still restive, in spite of the impression created that it will be reversed when the President takes over command.

We did not hear about the LBTQI because the President still prefers it be confined to school curriculum and not the statute books.

State of the Nation Addresses (SONAs) are very serious engagements between the person chosen by the citizens to keep the purse of the nation and his compatriots representative in Parliament.

The manner in which the leader or President goes about executing the social contract between him and the people must be spelt out during such an engagement.

Fashioned along the British pattern and the State of the Union as in the United States, it should be devoid of unnecessary campaign trail theatricals. When it loses the seriousness it deserves, the impact evaporates and renders the engagement useless, giving political opponents fodder for polemics.

The economic figures which are churned out should be apt and not give room for doubts about veracity.

Comparative presentation of economic figures will be useful during such engagements so informed discussions can follow. How much was the state of the country’s indebtedness when former President Akufo-Addo took over from President John Mahama? What is the state today? What infrastructural developments have been undertaken?

It is not decent when at the end of such an important date in the political calendar, there is a debate over whether or not the President was truthful to his compatriots.

The directive that the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP) equipment be returned to the regional capitals from their current abodes in the districts as contained in the SONA prompts a question of sincerity.

They will be used for mobile road mending tasks, according to him, as if the previous arrangement was not about ensuring that our roads are maintained all year round.

The President, in the delivery, derided the DRIP as a last minute knee-jerk reaction by the previous government. Yet one of his appointees claims that the originator of the project is not the previous government but President Mahama, a claim which does not add up.

We are constrained to recall the criminality tag the President festooned around the neck of the nation, a crime scene. If there is anything like a crime scene situation in the country, it was during the duo of Mills/Mahama when the country posted erroneous fiscal figures to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the country was fined.  Ghana, regardless of the economic criminality it committed, was not tagged a crime scene.

The President, in his presentation, subtly endorsed Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s digitisation dream and areas covered so far as evidenced in the Ghana Card, mobile money interoperability, E-gate and many more.

It is about the 21st century technology for the whole country and not deriding one ethnic group and telling them that they do not need such complex technologies, being content with their staple kenkey and fish. Glad he has acknowledged the role of digitisation and its correlation with the economy.

After promising the country milk and honey so the previous administration would look wicked, the President has announced approaching austerity measures, the meaning of which is tightening our belts.

 

 

 

 

The post The Other State Of The Nation appeared first on DailyGuide Network.

Read Full Story