Akufo-Addo’s SONA is a sharp contrast of reality – Haruna Iddrisu

The Minority in Parliament strongly believes the economic conditions in the country and the challenges facing the ordinary Ghanaian is in sharp contrast to what the President Akufo-Addo painted in his State of the Nation Address.

Akufo-Addo in the last address to the 7th Parliament stated that his government has been able to stabilize the economy within the last four years adding that there has been a major transformation in the lives of Ghanaians.

But speaking to the media after Akufo-Addo’s presentation, Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, accused the President of doing too little for the citizenry and failing to improve the general standard of living in the country leaving many in abject poverty.

He criticized the government for among other things the high cost of goods and services, high unemployment rate, abuse of state funds and economic hardship.

“Standard of living and quality of life in Ghana is deteriorating. A bag of maize in Ghana is now selling for more than GHS200 in Tamale. That has never ever happened. The President also prides himself for 1D1F which is not equitably distributed. Many regions are lacking the factories and all of them are concentrated in Accra and Tema. He also came to Parliament with a lot of questionable tax exemptions. He was also silent on the growing unemployment in the country”, he queried.

However, some Majority members of the house who shared varied opinions on the address praised the President for his good works and discredited the claims of the Minority.

The out-going MP for Tempane, Joseph Kpemka, reacted to the Minority's concerns on why the President failed to mention the death of seven people during the December polls.

“That is the Minority’s opinion, and you cannot take opinions from anyone. Once the person says that, I cannot hold brief for them. The fact was that the President was called upon to deliver the State of the Nation Address which was spot on in a manner I have not seen before. In that short period, he was able to touch on all facets of the economy”, he said.

On his part, the outgoing Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, also indicated that retaining Prof. Mike Oquaye as Speaker will be a good decision.

— citinewsroom