Statement: President John Mahama’s Programme: Too Little, Too Late?

The NPP welcomes the President’s communication of his resolve to chart some new courses in the delivery of good governance over the next four months.

We note the over 150 directives, instructions, orders to Ministers of State, including notices of cabinet meetings. He outlines a tall list of “must dos”, directives and reviews that he will ask his government to pursue. We note however that there are no new policy prescriptions.

The President told us inflation has been held down. There was however no mention of the cost of living, with the prices of everyday goods and services - bread, gari, rice, sugar, electricity, water, school fees, transport etc having gone up by triple digits over the last 3½ years. We don’t share the President’s claim that the prices of food have been stable. They have not, even though we have been importing massive amounts of food. It is a sad commentary that with more than 60% of our people engaged in food agric, prices of food remain high and we still import tomatoes and maize.

The President believes the cedi’s decline has been arrested. We note over the past three and half years, the cedi has lost 80% of its value, 20% in the first half of this year alone. This in real terms represents a significant loss of value for businesses and investments in Ghana. It also represents a significant increase in cost of living as it has translated into price inflation for most goods that we import and consume. Yet inflation has amazingly remained stable whilst prices have raced through the roof.

The arrest of the decline the President mentioned is basically because there is in effect a ban on cedi/dollar transactions at our banks. Ghanaians with dollar deposits are being denied access to their own deposits, and are offered cedis at rates that bear no relationship to market reality. This is wiping out the hard won confidence that depositors have built over the past 10 years in the banking sector. Moreover, this measure does not resolve the fundamental causes of the depreciation and can at best be described as a band aid solution

The street cedi dollar rate is about GH? 2.40 to a dollar, compared to GH? 1.95 at the banks.

The difference between the bank rate (official) and the ‘street’ rate shows clearly that all is not well with the official rate. We seem to have retrogressed to the controlled forex regime as it was in the early 1980’s.

We share the President’s lament over the delivery of public services but we did not hear any new policies to address this endemic problem. We urge the President to institute as an initial measure, the implementation of service charters, to engender improved civil/public service response to the needs of the citizens.

The President called on the private sector to lead the attainment of middle income status. We remind the President that by UN definition, Ghana attained lower middle income status by 2007. On the all-important issue of jobs for our teeming unemployed youth, even the President did not appear to have clear data on the scale of the problem, and the NYEP is still piling up arrears in the “better Ghana”.

It is still a very sad commentary on governance that the approach to this crucial issue of job creation is characterized by adhoc measures and initiatives. There is absent a nationally defined policy to systematically promote employment in Ghana.

This is despite the fact that in the last quarter of 2008, Cabinet approved a well thought out, credible, national employment policy and implementation action plan.

It is difficult to take any comfort in the President’s sentiments for the promotion of value addition as a process that will “throw up” jobs. If the President took a tour of our industrial areas, he would find that they have become shopping centres.

The President seemed keen to promote Ghanaian enterprise and local content. This is so long overdue as foreigners are now repairing electricity transformers by the roadside and digging graves for Ghanaians. Despite the huge bread making industry in Ghana, we still import bread!

The President expressed worry on the cost of contracts/projects. But there was no mention of the sole sourcing method that has become so prevalent at the Sillas Mensah led National Procurement Authority. (NPA)

We note in this direction that the cost of standard six classroom block with all ancillary facilities rose from GH? 73,000 in November 2009 to GH? 325,000, by January 2012, an increase of over 400% in just two years!

The President was not enthused about the NPP’s programme of free secondary school in Ghana. We wish to assure all Ghanaians that the free secondary schools programme is a solemn promise. Leadership is about choices that will take the nation forward. The NPP will choose free secondary school education for all Ghanaian children as against the payment of dubious judgment debt.

The President signalled his intention to ensure some understanding into the dubiousness that has attended the payments of many of the so called judgment debts/settlement payments. We ask the questions, what can the President do in three months? Where has the President been in the last 3 years when these dubious payments were made? Where has he been in the last year since these dubious payments became public?

We also welcome his intention to engage with other political leaders in a bid to promote better multi partisan approach to national affairs. We note that this would be a continuation of the tradition established by President John Agyekum Kufour. We recall the gifts, appointments and national honours given to leaders of opposing parties between 2001 and 2008.

The President seems keen to ensure smooth and peaceful elections in December. We hope the president will back his words with action. We note that the president’s recent directives for sanitized language have been flouted several times by his government communicators without any reprimand. Currently, his party's national organizer has been recorded conspiring to infiltrate the security services to cause mayhem and pandemonium during the general elections, using public funds. We have also been told by a deputy minister that reports of assault given to the president got no attention. We call on the President to ensure that the Security Services act to discourage such impunity. The Electoral processes must be fair, transparent and credible. We will support the President fully to achieve this, so that in December, Ghanaians can have something to cheer about.

We note that President John Mahama virtually concedes that all is not well with his government over the last three and a half years. He has therefore given a plethora of measures, directives and “must dos” to rectify some of the government’s failures. Yet he falls short of prescribing any new policies as solutions. He also conveniently forgets that he was vice president over the past three and a half years during which he was the head of the Economic Management Team, Chairman of the Armed Forces Council, Chairman of the Police Council, and was given "every responsibility" by the late President Mills. If he couldn’t do all these in three and a half years, it is inconceivable that he will achieve much in four months. Or is this a veiled attempt to respond to the NDC founder, ex-President Rawlings demands for integrity at their extraordinary congress in Kumasi?

Signed:

NANA AKOMEA

(COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR)