Government rates itself high in 100 days in office
The vice President Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, has called on the citizenry to support the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), to fulfill the promises made to them in the 2016 general election.
This, he said should be in solidarity with the excellent performance of the Executive in the 100 days in office.
He said with the good start in the first 100 days, the government had laid a solid foundation for the take-off of the country towards economic growth and prosperity, expressing the conviction that the executive would do more to make Ghana the centerpiece of regional, continental and global attention.
The vice President Bawumia at a town hall meeting in Accra on Monday to mark the first 100 days of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s administration said government had done exceptionally well, and had made noteworthy milestones during that period.
“We did not make any promises for 100 days, we made promises for what we wanted to deliver to Ghana during our term in office. Notwithstanding that, the government, under the leadership of what I can say is our workaholic President, can point to some significant achievements in these last 100 days,” he said.
Cataloguing 103 achievements chalked out within the period, Dr Bawumia said the administration had within the 100 days taken a number of decisions that would bring economic, social and political benefits to the country.
Among the interventions pursued during the period, is the institution of measures to rein in public expenditure, mitigate corruption, get value for energy and power agreements, bolster the ailing public health system and national health insurance regime and restoring fiscal discipline and stabilising the macro-economics of the country.
Other interventions include kick-starting the free secondary school education programme, tax reprieves, incentives and breaks to specific sectors , enhancing the rule of law, ensuring accountability in governance, suspended the issuance of small scale mining licenses to restructure the sector and developed a five-year plan to manage small-scale mining to protect the environment.
Dr Bawumia said government within the period had allocated GH¢456 million for the one district one factory as promised and making available an additional GH¢220 million to support distressed but viable companies around the country.
He said within the 100 days, Ghana and the Ivory Coast had agreed to tackle the volatility cocoa prices, and the sector was expected to provide employment for the teeming youth.
On Fisheries, Dr Bawumia said government had instituted measures to stamp out corruption in the premix fuel regime, halted the issuance of fishing licenses to stop over fishing and had trained watchdog committees to fight the menace of light fishing along the coast.
He said government was working to stop the degradation of the environment through illegal small scale mining.
He said government had banned mining in river beds and water bodies and was planning a central processing plant to process gold in the country.
Dr Bawumia expressed optimism that as the economy continued to stabilise and fuel prices were brought down, coupled with the implementation of the abolished spare parts tax, transports fares would be reviewed downwards
He said government was re-negotiating the terms of fuel supply and that the move would save Ghana some $15 million annually.
He said government was systematically dealing with issues of legacy debt of $2.4 billion to enable operators in the power sector to be efficient.
On the social front, Dr Bawumia said government had set up the first adult shelter to support victims of human trafficking in the country.
“There is one for victims of domestic abuse but this is the first ever shelter dedicated for victims of human trafficking. And, in addition, we have established a revolving GH¢500,000 human trafficking fund to help victims of human trafficking.”
The Vice President disclosed that government had made provision in the budget to expand the Livelihood Empowerment Assistance Programme (LEAP), to cover beneficiaries from 213,000 to 350,000.
He said the portions of the District Assembly Common Fund that went to persons with disabilities would be increased from two per cent to three per cent.
He said as part of measures to ensure that government successfully implemented its debt re-profiling plan, Ghana issued a total of $2.25 billion in four bonds.
“Last Friday, Ghana issued a bond essentially to do this re-profiling and in that context we raised some $2.25 billion of investment that came in to buy this cedi denominated bond. There was a cedi bond, which was issued for 15 years tenure and that brought in 2.25 billion.”
“What is so remarkable about this transaction is that, we have been able to re-profile our debt, get more foreign exchange without increasing our debt stock and that is so remarkable.
“Many people did not quite understand the transaction and they thought that we had gone to borrow $2 billion to add to Ghana’s debt. No! We are actually replacing more expensive debts with less expensive ones.”
Dr Bawumia said government was resolute to deal with acts of lawlessness in the country, explaining that irrespective of one’s political leanings, the law would take its course and that the Executive would not shield offenders in the name of partisan politics.
Source: GNA