Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson, has described the third State of the Nation Address delivered by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as one packed with words but containing very little content.
President Akufo-Addo presented the 2019 State of the Nation Address before the house in parliament Thursday, touching on various sectors of the economy including health, education, transport, and security.
Speaking on the sidelines with Ghanaweb after the reading, Mr. Ato Forson expressed disappointment about the contents of the address.
According to him, very little was said about crucial subjects including the depreciation of the cedi against other currencies globally.
Instead, he said, Mr. Akufo-Addo chose to resort to the repetition of things he has already spoken about.
“The president’s statement, though lengthy but virtually very little in terms of content. He spent about an hour, 35 minutes to give us the state of the nation but in terms of content, it is very little in the sense that, we’ve heard his excellency speak on a number of things but most of the time most of the things he mentions are not new to us, they are old statements that he is rehashing because he has nothing to show”, he said.
“Even though he says he has a lot to say, but they are things we know already”.
Focus, he insists should have been placed on the declining strength of the cedi, as against other currencies, as well as tackle investor confidence.
“I thought that things that are of concern to me and you are two things; one on the depreciation of our currency that is affecting businesses, your life, my life. The ordinary Ghanaian man wants to ask His Excellency the President some of the measures they are going to put in place to restore the depreciation of the cedi. Unfortunately, the President failed woefully to mention that”, he said.
“The president missed a golden opportunity to communicate to the investor community”, he added.
