The Minority in Parliament has described President Nana Akufo-Addo’s maiden State of the Nation Address (SoNA) as just "lofty rhetoric and propaganda" which was "high on platitudes and short on substance".
President Akufo-Addo on Tuesday delivered his first SoNAÂ at the Parliament House in Accra with a promise that though his predecessor handed over a severely challenged economy, he was going to fix it and improve the lots of Ghanaians.
Touching on various topics including agriculture, health, economy, education, security and gender, among others, he also promised to introduce many interventions to create many jobs for the unemployed.
"The most critical challenge, inherited by this NPP government, is the very high and unprecedented level of unemployment particularly among the youth [but] we are confident that, through our interventions, significant job opportunities will be opened to Ghanaians across the country", he stated.
But at a press conference on Wednesday in response to President Akufo-Addo's address, the Minority stated that the President failed to touch on many topics adding that there was no substance in the ones touched on.
“Even on the things that he touched on, he was high on platitudes and short on substance. Lofty rhetoric and propaganda dominated vast segments of his delivery and in the end, an opportunity was missed by him to carry Ghanaians along on his much-vaunted promisesâ€, Minority Leader,  Haruna Iddrisu who addressed the press conference said.
On the promise of jobs, the group was of the opinion that President Akufo-Addo's actions since he was sworn into office were in sharp contrast to his promise of creating jobs for Ghanaians.
According to them, in the first month since Mr Akufo-Addo became president:
“205 employees of the National Service Scheme have been unceremoniously dismissed on very flimsy and clearly partisan considerations. 110 middle-level staff of COCOBOD in lawful employment have also been dismissed for no apparent reason" while “8,634 Nurses who had received financial clearance and had been employed in various public health institutions have been thrown out of their jobs".
Also, “265 Police recruits who had reached advanced stages of training have had their dreams of entering the police service crushed by an unreasonable decision to dismiss them. 525 National Security personnel have also been shown the exit and asked to go home by this government.
Â
“This represents a clear slap in the face of jobless Ghanaian youth and would further deepen their anxiety and desperation. It further marks an unforgivable betrayal of the many unemployed youths who voted for the NPP on the basis of tantalising promises to give them jobsâ€, the group added.
Â