Parliament on Tuesday began a heated debate on the state of the nation's address the President Kufuor presented to the House last Thursday on the government's achievements during the previous year and the plans for this year.
NPP MP for Afigya-Sekyere East, Mr. Kwasi Akomea Kyeremateng, moved that the House commend the President for the address, which was "like Nehemiah seeking to rebuild the desolate walls of Jerusalem."
Quoting extensively from the book of Nehemiah in the Bible, Mr. Kyeremateng urged the President not to loose guard and to fail, notwithstanding "the current predictable distractions".
He said the President last year set goals for his government and brought down inflation to 25 per cent, the free fall of the cedi was halted and the menace of serial killers has come to an end.
Hon. Kyeremateng said the government is taking steps to stem the brain-drain of health and other professionals, increasing enrolment in all training institutions, the establishment of post-graduate medical college and introduction of service condition policy for medical practitioners.
The government is also instituting training programmes for nurses to specialise, the introduction of degree courses in nursing and others, which would include remuneration and incentive packages to those doctors, who would like to establish their practice in deprive communities are also being considered, the MP added.
Mr. Kyeremateng's motion suffered a dent, when he referred to Accra-Yamoransa, Accra-Aflao and Accra-Kumasi roads and said the NPP government was going to undertake their construction and would not suspend any project in an area whose people might have not voted for the government, as was the case in the NDC regime.
He alluded to the suspension of some projects in his constituency because the people did not vote for the NDC.
This brought Minority Chief Whip, Doe Adjaho, and Hon. Emmanuel Zumakpe, NDC Mp for Nadowli South to their feet on different points of orders claiming that although those roads had remained on the drawing board for a long time the Accra-Aflao road would have started in 2001 had the NPP government not gone HIPC.
Amidst shouts of "yeah, yeah" from the Minority side with the Majority side countering, "it is not true, it is not true", Mr. Peter Ala Adjetey, the Speaker was forced to use his gavel to bring the House to order.
NDC MP for Jirapa, Hon. Edward Salia, who was then the Minister for Roads and Transport said the suspension of those projects was due to lack of funds and was not based on any political motives by the previous government.
Mr. Kyeremanteng has alleged that the former first lady threatened that if the people in the area refuse to vote for the NDC, the projects would be stopped and true to her words, the project was stopped when he (Kyeremanteng) won the seat.
Second Deputy Speaker, Hon. Kenneth Dzirasah, seeing that the House was becoming unruly advised members to stay away from controversies since it could send the debate to a different level.
Mr. Kyeremateng said "the President and his team within this one-year have worked tirelessly and deserve commendation" and that the President courageously spoke the bitter truth to give meaning to positive change.
When he rose to second the motion, Dr Kwabena Adjei, NDC MP for Biakoye took the House by storm when he said he was doing so ‘reluctance.”
The Speaker quickly brought him to track and told him that every member of the House was a free man who should be free to pursue an action and it was either for him to second the motion without reservations or not to second it at all.
When he withdraw his earlier statement and resumed talking, Dr Adjei in his characteristics combatant mood asked, "by the way whose judgement or assessment does President Kufuor use as the basis for believing that unlike the past regimes, his administration, can be exonerated from human rights abuses, can claim to be impeccable upholders of the rule of law and is perceived to be more politically tolerant of opposition or dissent. "It is very dangerous for any government to revel in positive self-assessment and in the assessment of its performance".
He said the President ought to have told Ghanaians about how all-inclusive his government really is to dispel the perception that his government "is the most exclusive in political and ethnic terms than any other in the political history of post-independence Ghana".
Dr Adjei asked whether it was true that the NPP regime within 12 months added six trillion to its external debt of some 41 trillion, and if so, why should an apparently debt-averse government take about 800 million dollars loan from external sources in one year.
He said the address deserved to be described as empty, hollow, lacking in substance and uninspiring.
