President’s address did not reflect the true state of the nation - Lecturer

Senior lecturer of the department of Finance at the University of Ghana Business School, Dr. Lord Mensah has asserted that the outcome of the 2020 general elections can determine the true state of the nation.

According to him, the President’s address on the state of the nation might not really reflect what is happening on the ground.

In an interview with Samuel Eshun on e.TV Ghana’s Fact Sheet show, he explained: “From all indications, he [President Nana Akufo-Addo] painted a very good picture which clearly tells you that upon all the challenges we have had, coming into COVID, and all those, the economy is generally resilient. Then the question is, is that the real picture as people see it? I always say that if we are to go by anything, let’s use the elections as a gauge or as a measure of how people felt as far as the policies are concerned, how people felt as far as choice of leadership are concerned in this country. If you look at the elections, clearly it gives you the signal that people were not happy”.

Noting an example, he shared that the almost split 8th parliament signals that the people were not satisfied with the leadership or the policies that were rolled out.

Summarizing his point, he stated: “Of course it is the president’s day to give us an account and what is on paper is what he read to us. I believe that generally that is not what Ghanaians see”.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday, 5th January, 2020, delivered his last State of the Nation Address for his first term of office.

Among the things he mentioned, he stated that basic education in Ghana will soon be at the secondary level considering the introduction of the Free Senior High School (SHS) and Free Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes by the Government.