Every state of the nation address, particularly the first one, is always used as an effective instrument to outline the policy direction of an administration: such could be said of the one just delivered by Ghana’s President.
Addressing the 7th Parliament of Ghana’s 4th Republic, President Akufo Addo began by spelling – out the facts: from stating that the economy was clearly in a bad state, an acclaimed national debt stock of Ghc122bn - equivalent to 74% of the nation’s GDP, an expenditure by the previous administration that far exceeded what was promised in the election year budget and an arears of over Ghc7bn among others.
As though that was just to wet appetite, or perhaps to give the Ghanaian public a fair view of the country’s finances and economy in general, he quickly switches into the ‘optimist mode’ that have so often characterized his previous speeches by saying that he “was not elected by the overwhelming majority of the Ghanaian people to complain but to find solutions†or more so “to fix thingsâ€.
He further declared that the free SHS program will begin with the next 2017 academic session but wasn’t specific on how it would be financed.
Finally, one could have only expected that the President would call for some form of bi-partisan partnership and yes, he did by saying that there ought to be “a consensus†on some national issues ending by reiterating the commitment of his government to build “a Ghana beyond aidâ€.