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Refreshingly Different, Full Of Statesmanship (1)

By Daily Guide
Editorial President Akufo-Addo delivering the State of the Nation Address
FEB 22, 2017 LISTEN
President Akufo-Addo delivering the State of the Nation Address


We are compelled to shower plaudits on President Nana Akufo-Addo for serving his compatriots something different from what they have contained for many years now.

His was a brief yet loaded and reassuring State of the Nation Address (SONA). That it was devoid of the usual propaganda theatricals, something which characterized previous such exercises, sets it apart from the others.

The SONA has come at a time when Ghanaians on both sides of the political divide are looking forward to what government has up its sleeves after the campaign season promises. We cannot at this stage, in all sincerity, query the quality of the presentation, its distinction acclaimed by objective political analysts.

There was no area of the Ghanaian predicament that was not covered especially coming at the heels of an election in which the people of this country have stated beyond doubts their hunger for changes in all spheres of national life.

Having been at the helm for a little over a month, such changes cannot manifest themselves so soon even as the expectations of Ghanaians are rooftop high.

We can though begin to see actions on the part of the government which suggest that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

President Nana Akufo-Addo has stated that he is in a hurry, and we think that he cannot afford to be slow in the execution of his projects.

Anything below cruising speed would not be acceptable by Ghanaians. They have saluted the speed with which he made his appointments and moved to take certain decisions without which the flagship 'One District One Dam' and the others would not take off on time and alter positively the lives of the people.

We still recall his campaign time reference to the forlornness of Ghanaians, the fallouts of bad governance and unworkable economic policies. What an opportunity than yesterday to lay out programmes to address the shortcomings and put the country on a path of sustainable growth in both short and long terms.

The challenges inflicted upon a country that should have been counting its gains rather than its losses are enormous and in the face of limited resources to tackle them, only a focused and disciplined leadership can address these.

We are encouraged by the President's promise to fix the ailing economy and not sulk over it, an important departure from the previous norm.

We are particularly enthralled by the promise to link Takoradi with the farthest point of the country in the North via railway. Put alternatively, the South would be linked to the North through a modern railway system and the economic benefits can only be imagined.

Governor Gordon Guggisberg thought about this project as early as in the 1900s and sought the permission of London to undertake a project of linking the South with the North by the construction of a railway system to as far afield as Paga.

The establishment of a ministry to push this railway agenda is the closest any government since Guggisberg has done.

As for the moribund National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Ghanaians could not have had a better piece of news than in the President's SONA.

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