Our hope in the Presidential address

That the economy of this nation has been in shambles over the years is a fact universally acknowledged. The voodoo economics of borrowing to fix every problem encountered by the National Democratic Congress, under deceased President John Evans Atta Mills and his successor, John Dramani Mahama, meant that this country was pilling up the debt.

What most Ghanaians did not know at the time was the actual quantum of this nation's indebtedness. Officialdom contrived to make it look like it was a state secret.

Yesterday, President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was in Parliament to deliver his first State of the Nation Address, and told Ghanaians that this nation is in indebted to external and internal creditors to the tune of GH¢122 billion. This works out at 74 percent of GDP.

Read the lips of the Head of State: “As at the beginning of 2009, Ghana's total debt stock was GH¢9.5 billion. By the end of 2016, the debt stock had ballooned to GH¢122 billion.”

The ballooning of the debt stock did no justice to the need for prudent measures, for which reason this nation went under the dictates of the International Monetary Fund.

What this huge debt profile means is that the new administration would not have the latitude of implementing the many promises made on the campaign trail, given the dire state of the economy. That is not the only challenging news confronting the economy.

According to the President, in the previous government's endeavour to resolve the energy crisis last year, as much as US$2.4 billion debt was contracted in the energy sector alone, putting pressure on our local banks which advanced the loans.

It is obvious that the going would be tough in our endeavour to restructure the economy. But as the saying goes, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. The good news for Ghanaians is that the President does not appear to be daunted by the task ahead.

President Akufo-Addo told Parliament yesterday, that his administration is determined to fix the broken economy. “We are all confident that through our interventions, significant job opportunities will be opened to Ghanaians…The time in which we live demands that we all be in a hurry to deal with the problems we face.”

The President talked of a new initiative in agriculture to boost job creation. “Planting for food and jobs is a campaign to promote growth in food production, and to create jobs for the teeming youth.” But this policy was shot down by the immediate past Minister for Food and Agriculture in Parliament House yesterday.

Mr. Fifi Kwettey, who is also Member of Parliament for Ketu South, told newsmen after the Presidential delivery, that agriculture could not be a reliable means of creating jobs. In his opinion, jobs could only be provided by opening up factories and other business concerns.

Either the former minister has not reckoned with agriculture providing the impetus for agro-based factories, which tells a lot about why agriculture failed to fly under his watch, or he is playing the usual game of politics.

Whatever it is, The Chronicle is inspired by the Presidential delivery. We hope and pray that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will lead from the front in this difficult task of restructuring the battered economy. We are inspired by his pronouncement that, though the economy is broken, it is his resolve to fix it.

We pray that in this difficult assignment, there would be no disconnect between the Presidency and his ministers. When those to direct the various portfolios are in consonant with the leadership, delivery becomes relatively easier.

We would wish that some of the interventionist policies like free second cycle education, for instance, would have been pushed ahead for at least one more year, as the government comes to grips with the economy. As it is, the President and his men and women are determined to go ahead with the policy, in spite of the economic challenges.

The Chronicle wishes the administration the best of everything in its endeavour to restructure this society.

We are thrilled at the idea that reconstruction of our broken railway would begin this year, with the mandate to take rail service from the Port of Takoradi all the way to Paga on the border with Burkina Faso. An efficient rail service would mean an easier means of moving heavy goods, which, in turn, would give our roads longer life.

There is every reason to hope for a much better Ghana. Ghanaians are encouraged to work harder to realise our dream of a Better Ghana!