SONA: Akufo-Addo wasn’t selective – Mustapha Hamid

Information Minister Mustapha Hamid has dismissed assertions by the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was selective and divisive with his maiden State of the Nation Address (SoNA) which he delivered to parliament on Tuesday.

Reacting to Mr Akufo-Addo’s address, the opposition party accused Nana Akufo-Addo of neglecting vital sectors of the economy while painting a gloomy image of the economy to win the sympathy of Ghanaians.

“Being the first SoNA to be delivered by him, there was huge expectation that he would use the occasion to offer a broad overview of his vision and plan for Ghana especially in the light of the extravagant promises he made on the campaign trail in the 2016 elections and as contained in the NPP’s manifesto for the same election” Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu, who addressed the press on Wednesday said adding that “this expectation to the contrary however revealed that the President’s bark doesn’t match his bite. He hid behind brevity in order to avoid touching on many critical sectors that are vital and of importance to the generality of our people”.

But Mr Hamid speaking to Class91.3FM’s 505 News programme said the president could not have touched on all sectors in his message but painted the true picture of the state.

“Everything rises and falls on the economy, so, once the president talks excessively on the economy and how the economy is challenged and if we were to fix the economy and get a very stable macroeconomic environment, it affects everything. So, I don’t know what the Minority is talking about that he [Nana Akufo-Addo] is being selective and that he should have talked about tourism, sports, housing. There is no single aspect of our national life which is not important, so, if the president was to go on and on, he would go on interminably and that is not the business of a state of the nation. That is why the constitution says the president shall give a message on the state of the nation. A message is not necessarily laborious. They are entitled to what they say and like the president said facts are facts. The president wouldn’t come before parliament and lie and just say things that are not correct,” he stated.