Prime News Ghana

NDC to deliver 'true' state of the nation address today

By Vincent Ashitey
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The National Democratic Congress will deliver what it calls the ”true" state of the nation address today, Monday, March 20, 2023.

The event will be held at the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA) and will be delivered by the Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah.

This is to counter President Akufo-Addo’s constitutionally mandated address which he delivered on March 8, 2023.

READ ALSO: NDC directs MPs to suspend campaign activities in constituencies

The NDC address, under the auspices of the party’s National Communications Bureau, is expected to focus heavily on the economy and factors that have pushed the country for an IMF bailout.

Akufo-Addo in his address assured Ghanaians that funds for the fight against Covd-19 were not misused.

He said the funds were appropriately used for the purpose of tackling the pandemic adding that "nothing dishonorable was done with the covid funds."

Covid funds were not misused. It is critical that we do not lose the confidence of the people that the crisis we were all in together was being abused. Nothing dishonourable was done with Covid funds.”

 

The President among other things refuted allegations that Ghana’s current economic crisis is due to reckless borrowing and spending.

He said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have been prudent in the management of the country’s resources.

“Let me state emphatically that we have not been reckless in borrowing and spending. It is worth noting that the debts we are servicing were not only contracted during the period of this administration.”

According to him, his government has spent prudently on urgent needs of the country such as roads and schools.

“We have spent money on things that are urgent, to build roads and bridges and schools, to train our young people and equip them to face a competitive world. Considering the amount of work that still needs to be done on the state of our roads, the bridges that have to be built, considering the number of classrooms that need to be built, the furniture and equipment needs at all stages of education, considering the number of children who should be in school and are not, considering the number of towns and villages that still do not have access to potable water, I daresay no one can suggest we have over borrowed or spent recklessly.

“Yes, I have been in a hurry to get things done, and this includes massive developments in agriculture, education, health, irrigation, roads, rails, ports, airports, sea defence, digitisation, social protection programmes, industrialisation and tourism. We can be justifiably proud of the many things we have managed to do in the past six years. As I go around the country, I hear the pleas for roads, schools, hospitals, and, as the rainy season comes, I wish, as every other Ghanaian does, that we would have built more drains than we have. And I wish we had the resources to do more,” he said.

“I am proud of the amount of work that we have done, especially in the road sector. Roads constitute the largest number of questions asked in this House by Members of Parliament; a large amount of the monies we borrow are for road construction. Shall we dare stop constructing roads?” Akufo-Addo asked.