I didn’t lie for votes - Akufo-Addo

President Nana Akufo-Addo is optimistic of delivering on all the promises he made during the 2016 election campaign period, to demonstrate that not all politicians make promises just for purposes of gaining political votes.

He explained that when politicians make promises they cannot honour, it weakens the trust of the people.

This, according to him, is not good for democratic governance, and his government is, therefore, committed to redeem all its promises.

President Akufo-Addo gave the assurance when he addressed members of the Upper West Region House of Chiefs in Wa on the first day of his seven-day tour of the Upper West, Upper East and Northern regions.

He stressed that a nation without a strong agricultural base was a nation at risk.

Consequently, he stated government’s commitment to the successful implementation of the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ (PFJs) programme, which had already seen the registration of 183,000 farmers, out of a target of 200,000 farmers.

The President said through the PFJs programme, Ghanaian youth who completed colleges of agriculture and were without jobs had now been engaged.

He noted that it had become critical to ensure that all Ghanaian children went to school to learn something, to enable them to survive in the modern world.

Despite this necessity, he said, in the next 10 years, one million Ghanaian children stood the risk of terminating their education at the junior high school (JHS) level.

It was for this reason that the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy was introduced to ensure that every Ghanaian child had access to education, at least to the SHS level, he added.

On the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), President Akufo-Addo noted that government had paid GH?560 million out of its GH?1.2 billion debt.

On security, he expressed worry that in the past, over 500 police officers were transferred out of the region without any replacement, saying his government posted 202 police officers to the region to improve police visibility, and its subsequent reduction in criminal activities.

Paramount chief of the Tumu Traditional Area, who doubles as president of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs, Kuoro Richard Babini Kanton IV, commended the government for its commitment to the welfare of the Ghanaian people through its social intervention programmes.

Kuoro Babini Kanton, who is also a member of the Council of State, said that a total of 40 cases were brought before the house, out of which three had been disposed of, while others, including 25-year-old and 19-year-old cases, were at advanced stages of being disposed of.

He noted that the house was keen on achieving the national target on dispute, and urged all to support the house to enable it sit regularly on the cases.

The paramount chief appealed to the President to help complete an office complex for the Regional House of Chiefs, in order for them to avoid meeting important dignitaries at rented promises.

Kuoro Babini Kanton also appealed to the President to pay attention to the call for the Wa campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS) to be granted autonomy to become a fully fledged university.

He also called for the upgrading of the Wa Polytechnic to a technical university.

He appealed to government to put finishing touches to the Wa Airport for the commencement of domestic flight to and from the region.

Kuoro Babini Kanton also appealed for the completion of the Lawra-Nandom-Hamile road, Wa-Tumu-Navrongo road and the Wa Regional Hospital.