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Unprecedented Achievements of the Mills govt

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 Source: Dailypost

Ahead of the NDC’s super gargantuan rally at Mantse Agbona, James Town, in Accra last Saturday, panelists on Radio Gold’s flagship programme, Alhaji & Alhaji discussed the achievements of the Mills government and analyzed whether it was unprecedented.

Below for readers’ perusal is a summary of the submission made by Deputy

Information Minister, Sammy Okudzeto, which touched on 25 of the unprecedented

achievements of the Mills Government.

1) GDP growth rate of 13.6% (highest in Ghana’s

entire history)

2) Longest sustained single digit inflation (more

than 20 months and now at 8.6%)

3) Highest ever Gross International Reserves and

Foreign Direct Investment

4) 1 million metric tons of cocoa production

5) President signing up to the Extractive

Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and the Open Government Partnership

6) Establishing the Public Interest Committee to

oversee the Oil Sector and its independent membership like Mr. Kwame Pianim and

Prof. Addae Mensah

7) 2 new public universities being established at

the same time in the Volta and the Brong Ahafo Regions

8) $3 billion dollar CDB loan: biggest ever loan to

Ghana and any African country from China. This is a loud attestation of the level

of confidence in the Ghanaian

economy

9) Founder’s Day declaration

10) Constitution Review Process successfully

underway

11) Over 60,000 computers and laptops distributed

freely

12) 4 Navy Ships (After more than 32 years of

appeals), over 150 Fire Tenders and Fire Fighting Equipments to the Fire

Service, First ever ultramodern forensic laboratory for the Ghana Police

Service together with hundreds of vehicles and other equipments and massive

retooling and aircrafts for the Army

13) Electricity Expansion: From 54% nationwide

coverage to 72% nationwide coverage under 3 years. (Represents 18% addition in

3 years compared with NPP’s 11% in 8 years). 1,700 communities have therefore

been connected to the national grid

14) Street lights in all regional capitals including

Tema Motorway

15) Meeting all 4 convergence criteria of the West

Africa Monetary Zone

16) Mobile Number Portability (First time in West

Africa)

17) Anti-Corruption:

- Right to Information Bill moves from the Executive to the Legislature

for the

first time

- SFO strengthened with additional powers and

logistics as it becomes EOCO

- Handling of Woyome Case – No

cover up like we saw in the case of Haruna Esseku, Dr. Richard Anane and

what

President Kufuor said in Cape Coast that he will not allow his government to be

embarrassed in fighting corruption. In

sharp contrast; President Mills says when it comes to fighting corruption, “it

doesn’t matter whose ox is gored”

18) 97% approval rating within President Mills’

party the NDC and within the international community as attested by UN

Secretary General, US President, Ivorian President, Chinese President etc.

19) Fastest packaged social interventions in a first

term: in President Mills first year; Free uniforms, Free exercise books, 50%

increase in capitation grant, Elimination of Schools under trees and the

Mathematics, Science and Technology Scholarship Scheme (MASTESS) had been

rolled out as compared to the NPP’s school feeding which was started in 2005,

Capitation Grant in 2005/2006 academic year, Metro Mass in 2003, NYEP in 2006,

Metro Mass Pilot in 2003, Health Insurance in 2004 and LEAP in 2008

20) Wage Bill more than doubles under 3 years (From

about 2 billion Cedis to over 5 billion Cedis) President Mills has therefore

put more money in the pocket of Ghanaian workers who are better off today than

they were.

21) Life Expectancy has shot up by 11 years from 53

years to 64.2 years according to the latest United Nations Human Development

Index

22) Special Funds: Media

Development Fund – 1 million Cedis

Creative Industry Fund – 2 million Cedis

Science, Technology and Innovation Fund – 2 million Cedis

23) Industry receiving phenomenal boost: - Resuscitated the former Akwatia

Diamonds which had collapsed. Now the Ghana Consolidated Diamonds Company

Ltd.

- Revamping

of Ayensu Starch Factory

- Revamping Pwalugu Tomato Factory

- Revamping the Cotton Industry

- Establishing a Sheanut Processing Factory at

Buipe

- Aviation industry booming with over 20

international and domestic flights introduced coupled with expansion projects

at the Kotoka Airport and similar plans for domestic airports

24) Establishment of the National Buffer Stock

Company Limited: It has guaranteed ready

market for farmers, ensured stable prices and contributed tremendously to food

security. In 2010 the World Food

Programme relied on the National Buffer

Stock Company for its purchases to address Famine in Niger.

25) Upgrading of the Tamale Regional Hospital which

is helping improve health delivery in the Northern Sector and ensure that UDS

Medical Students go through their education without truncations and relocations

to KATH or KBTH as used to happen in the past. This is in addition to several

polyclinics which have been constructed

in all three Northern Regions.

Columnist: Dailypost