ghananlpcommunity/ghana-gov-speeches-sentences huggingface dataset:
Together, let us ensure that the scourge of this virus becomes nothing but a temporary blip on the fortunes of our nation, and we will go on to realise the vision and aspirations of our forebears, who envisioned Ghana to be a free, democratic, prosperous nation, the beacon of freedom and justice, the Black Star of Africa, the harbinger of a new black civilisation in which the dignity and prosperity of black people everywhere are assured.
ADDRESS TO THE NATION BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO, ON SUNDAY, 6 TH DECEMBER 2020, AT 8PM Fellow Ghanaians, good evening, and, once again, thank you for having me in your homes.
Tomorrow, from 7am to 5pm, we go to the polls to elect a President and two hundred and seventy-five (275) Members of Parliament, whom we shall entrust with managing our affairs for the next four years.
This will be the eighth time we shall be going through this important activity in the Fourth Republic, and we can safely say that each one has been an improvement on the previous one.
We have had five (5) Presidents in the history of this 4 th Republic, with peaceful transfers of power from a governing to an opposition party on three separate occasions.
Redress at the Supreme Court was sought, rather than recourse to street protests and agitations, when there was dispute over the outcome of an election.
Tomorrow, we have yet another opportunity to deepen further these excellent credentials.
I am fortified in my belief that we will, if, indeed, the successful holding of last Tuesday’s Special Voting exercise is the measure.
The Electoral Commission has already assured the country of its readiness to deliver another successful process, and it has, to that end, compiled the most credible voters’ register in our history.
So, it is in our collective interest to help ensure that tomorrow passes off in an orderly, peaceful, and transparent manner.
At the end of the day, there should be no lingering question about the legitimacy of the election, and the winning candidate, at the end of the process, should receive the unalloyed support of all.
That is how we can strengthen our democracy and the peace and stability of our nation.
Particularly, in the wake of the pandemic, let us all adhere strictly to the COVID-19 protocols put in place at all the thirty-eighty thousand, six hundred and twenty-two (38,622) polling stations, so we can cast our ballots in safety.
We should, therefore, not panic or be afraid.
Many countries around the world have conducted elections within this period, and I have no doubt that Ghana will join those nations in organizing a successful general election, even in the midst of the virus.
We should all remember the words of an ancient philosopher, who said, and I quote “the punishment suffered by the wise who refuse to take part in the government, is to live under the government of worse men”.
Using your God-given and constitutional rights costs nothing, but staying home can come at a very steep price.
So, I entreat all eligible voters to turn out in your numbers, cast your vote, and, thereby, exercise your sovereign right to the making of government in the country.
As President of the Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, it is my responsibility to guarantee the peace of the nation.
It is, thus, crucial that tomorrow’s vote be conducted in an atmosphere of peace and security, devoid of intimidation and violence.
The Ghanaian people are entitled to go about the exercise of their civic duties in peace and in freedom.
The security services have assured me that they have made adequate preparations to protect the sanctity of the process.
They have assured me of their determination to carry out their duties without fear or favour.
Improper behaviour by any citizen, no matter their political colour, will not be tolerated, and I am encouraged by the assurance by the Inspector General of Police, as well as by the heads of the other security services, that they will be even-handed in their response to issues.
That is the only way the rule of law can be upheld.
In view of the happenings on the continent, and, indeed in West Africa, the entire world is looking up to us to maintain our status as a beacon of democracy, peace and stability.
In this 4 th Republic, we have had the longest, uninterrupted period of stable, constitutional governance in our history, banishing the spectre of instability that disfigured the early years of our nation’s existence, and the benefits are showing.
Together, let us continue to lay the platform for the evolution of a new Ghanaian civilisation, which will give true meaning to the foundational values of freedom and justice on which our nation was conceived by its far-sighted, visionary founders.
Fellow Ghanaians, we can do it.
So, let us be up and doing, for our destiny beckons.
I thank you for your attention, have a good evening, and vote safely.
Mr Speaker, As my constitutionally mandated period as President of our country nears its very end, I come before the august House to perform my last official public duty.
I am grateful for the opportunity to give an accounting of my time in office, spell out the highlights of the state of our nation, and place on record the Ghana I am handing over to my successor.
In accordance with protocol and convention, it is good to see that my wife, First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, Second Lady Samira Bawumia, President-Elect John Dramani Mahama, incoming First Lady Lordina Mahama, Vice President-Elect Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, Spouse of Mr.
Speaker, Mrs.
Alice Adjua Yornas Bagbin, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, and Justices of the Supreme Court, Chairperson Nana Otuo Siriboe II and Members of the Council of State, Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, Hon.
Akosua Frema Osei Opare, and officials of the presidency, Secretary to the Cabinet, Ambassador Mercy Debrah-Karikari, Chief of Defence Staff of the Armed Forces, Lt.
General Thomas Oppong-Peprah, the Inspector General of Police, Dr.
George Akuffo Dampare, and the various Service Chiefs, are all present.
Speaker, the House is also duly honoured by the welcome attendance of the former President of the Republic John Agyekum Kufuor, former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, and the Dean and Members of the Diplomatic Corps.
Mr Speaker, before I commence my Message on the State of the Nation, I want to put on record that I am deeply saddened by the devastating fire at Kantamanto market, which took place yesterday and has left many traders and their livelihoods in ruins.
My thoughts and prayers are with those affected, and I extend heartfelt sympathies to the hardworking traders who have lost their goods and investments.
Government stands with you and will work with relevant agencies to ascertain the causes of the fire and to provide the needed support.
As a nation, let us unite in compassion and solidarity to help those who have suffered losses.
Together, we can extend a helping hand to our fellow Ghanaians in need during this challenging time.
Speaker, it is important to state, at the outset, that serving the Ghanaian people as President has been the greatest honour of my life.
It has been one of great challenges and even greater triumphs, one that has demanded every ounce of my energy, commitment and love for our beloved country.
My vision has always been to see a Ghana that is self-reliant, prosperous and united—a beacon of hope, democracy and opportunity in Africa and beyond.
That vision remains undimmed, and I am confident that the strides we have made together will propel Ghana to even greater heights.
Mr Speaker, the first responsibility of a government is the safety and security of the state and its people.
I am happy to report that our country’s territorial integrity is intact and all our borders are secure.
In a neighbourhood of widespread instability, it is no longer an assumption we can make that our land would be safe and secure.
Ghana, by the grace of God, remains the only country in the neighbourhood that has not fallen victim to terrorist violence.
It has taken a lot of concerted effort, and, dare I say, a lot of money to enable us protect our country from the ravages of the variety of terrorist groups operating and destabilising other countries in the neighbourhood.
I wish to pay great homage to the security services and their ministerial leaders for the work they do every day to keep us safe.
Mr Speaker, it gives me no pleasure to state that an important and integral part of the fabric of our society and the hallmark of our traditions, chieftaincy, continues to be a source of insecurity and destabilisation.
Upon coming into office, we worked hard, with considerable assistance from the Committee of Eminent Chiefs – Otumfuo Asantene, the Nayiri and the Yagbonwura – to bring, finally, a resolution to the conflict which had blighted the ancient kingdom of Dagbon for many, many years.
Bringing peace to Dagbon remains one of the highwater marks of my time in office, and I had been so looking forward to counting it with pride as the top of the list in resolving chieftaincy disputes and conflicts.
Unfortunately, the sad situation in Bawku must necessarily dampen any enthusiasm about the resolution of chieftaincy problems elsewhere.
It is a matter of great regret and distress to me personally that, in spite of our best efforts, the Bawku conflict remains unresolved.
Bawku is, unhappily, not the only area of chieftaincy conflict, and, judging from the experience of other parts of the country, I will have to mark chieftaincy as a growing source of insecurity that would continue to require a lot of attention.
It is clear that part of that process is the need to strengthen the capacities of the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs and the Peace Council, the two frontline institutions responsible for dealing with chieftaincy and other disputes.
Mr Speaker, in my inaugural speech at my swearing-in in my first term on 7th January 2017, and early on in that term, I made a public commitment to tackle galamsey, the phenomenon that had been ravaging our environment and destroying our lands and water bodies in the pursuit of mining for gold.
I knew, and was very much aware, that fighting galamsey was not a universally popular position for a President to take, but I felt strongly enough about the need to protect our environment to say I was prepared to put my presidency on the line in the defence of our lands and water bodies.
And indeed, Mr Speaker, the fight against galamsey led directly to the loss by my Party of several parliamentary seats in the 2020 elections, and to the makeup of this 8 th Parliament, which affected the implementation of my policy agenda, and impacted the second term of my presidency.
I welcome the many loud converts to the fight against galamsey that suddenly appeared in the run-up to the 2024 elections, and I pray that more and more of us get to embrace the need for the protection of our lands and water bodies.
As I have stated on numerous occasions, the fight against galamsey is not a fight against mining or the extraction of the gold the Almighty has so generously endowed us with.
But we owe it to future generations of Ghanaians to extract our minerals in the manner that protects our lands and water bodies.
I am happy to be able to say that we have implemented some of the boldest and most progressive policies in the mining, forestry and land sectors.
As a result of these policies, we overtook South Africa as the leading producer of gold on the continent, and have consistently increased gold production to reach an unprecedented four million ounces (4 million oz), last year.
Not only have we revamped dormant mines, like the Obuasi and Bibiani Mines, we have, also, worked to deliver the Cardinal Namdi Mine, the first large-scale mine in northern Ghana, and the first greenfield gold mines in our country in more than a decade, with the ongoing construction of new mines in Ahafo by Newmont and Upper West by Azumah Resources.
To add value to these volumes of minerals, we have constructed, through a Public Private Partnership, a four hundred kilogramme (400kg) capacity gold refinery, here in our country.
We have, also, concluded discussions with the parent company of Ghana Manganese Company Limited, for the construction of a four hundred and fifty million United States dollars (US$450 million) manganese refinery at Nsuta.
Moreover, the establishment of the Ghana Integrated Aluminum Development Corporation and the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation has laid the groundwork for the industrialisation of many of our natural resources.
These entities are expected to generate significant revenue, create jobs, and enhance the value addition of our natural wealth.
Each of these initiatives was guided by the vision to harness Ghana’s wealth for the benefit of her people, ensuring a legacy of sustainable development for future generations.
We continue to work to increase the forest estate of our country.
Under the Ghana Forest Plantation Strategy, some one hundred and twenty-one thousand hectares (721,000 ha) of degraded forests were cultivated between 2017 and 2023.
And under the Green Ghana Project, over fifty- two million trees have been planted in just four (4) years of its implementation.
In 2023, Ghana became the second country in Africa, and the third in the world, to receive results-based payments from the World Bank’s Carbon Fund for reducing emissions, under the Ghana Cocoa REDD+ Programme.
We have, also, completed all the necessary steps under the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union, and effective June this year, Ghana will become the first African country, and the second globally, to issue Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) licences.
Mr Speaker, if arguments still rage over what there is to show for the fight against galamsey and the effects of irresponsible mining, there can be no such arguments about the introduction of the Free SHS and Free TVET programmes, another policy that did not have universal approval when I sought to introduce it on coming into office.
However, I believe this is one of the rare occasions on which we can use the word transformational without any danger of abusing the word.
We have transformed education, and there can never be a reversal of the fact that some five-point-seven million (5.7 million) young people have gained access to secondary education, who would otherwise not have had the opportunity, but for Free SHS and Free TVET.
Indeed, my administration has also prioritised Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), establishing thirty-four (34) new TVET institutions and upgrading sixty-two (62) existing ones to equip our youth with 21st-century skills.
Mr Speaker, I am proud that we were brave enough to have started the Free SHS policy at the beginning of my first term and resisted the calls for a gradual introduction.
I am glad that we have removed from the Ghanaian mindset the belief that secondary school education is only for people from certain households and families.
From 2020, when the first cohort of Free Senior High School (FSHS) candidates sat for the WASSCE, Ghana has consistently recorded over fifty per cent (50%) of candidates scoring A1 to C6 in all four (4) core subjects.
This marks a stark improvement compared to the years prior, particularly the period when pass rates in core subjects were largely below fifty per cent (50%).
This year’s results, the 2024 results, have maintained the laudable trend from 2020.
Indeed, only fifty-one-point six per cent (51.6%) of candidates achieved A1-C6 in English in 2016, compared to a much higher sixty-nine point five- two per cent (69.52%) in 2024.
For Integrated Science, the pass rate improved from forty-eight point three-five per cent (48.35%) in 2016 to fifty-eight point seven-seven per cent (58.77%) in 2024.
Mathematics demonstrated the most dramatic progress, rising from a mere thirty-three-point one-two per cent (33.12%) pass rate in 2016 to an impressive sixty-six point eight-six per cent (66.86%) in 2024.
Social Studies followed a similar trend, improving from fifty-four point five-five percent (54.55%) in 2016 to seventy-one point five-three percent (71.53%) in 2024.
Moreover, the 2023 WASSCE results stand out as the best in the history of the examination, with record-breaking performances across all core subjects.
It is obvious, then, that our reforms have not only expanded access but have also enhanced the quality of education.
I am glad that we have elevated TVET and STEM to where they properly belong, and they will no longer be seen as the option for those who cannot make the top grade.
We have embarked on the development of twenty (20) STEM centres and ten (10) model STEM Senior High Schools across the nation, and also constructed one hundred and eighty-six (186) new science laboratories nationwide.
The other day, I commissioned the Accra STEM Academy, which is destined to play a key role in the future of STEM education in our country.
These institutions are designed to provide hands-on learning experiences with cutting-edge facilities.
From coding to robotics, our students are being prepared for the demands of the 21 st century.
It has not been without challenges, but the results are evident.
I am delighted with the infrastructure transformation that has taken place on our school and university campuses.
This was displayed in a dramatic fashion a few weeks ago when the Ministry of Education staged the simultaneous commissioning of eighty (80) new educational facilities.
I do not suggest that we have finished what we set out to do, but we have certainly established what a kindergarten is supposed to be like, we have established what a primary school should be like, we have set standards for what constitutes a JHS, science laboratories are now integral parts of Junior and Senior High Schools and computer tablets are available for all school children.
Mr Speaker, now we know and accept that a public school building can be painted in beautiful and attractive colours.
Mr Speaker, we have aimed to make the learning and teaching atmosphere a happy one for all school children and their teachers.
We have spent a lot of resources on education in the past eight (8) years, and I am persuaded that it is money well spent and the long-lasting benefits for our society will provide the justification for the expenditure.
Mr Speaker, it is impossible to make any meaningful accounting of my time in office without reference to the Covid pandemic.
With the passage of time, it is easy to play down the extent of the catastrophe that brought our world to a thundering halt, and brought wild animals to lounge on highways.
Do we remember that airports around the world were closed and some two years after the formal end of the pandemic, worldwide shipping and cargo freight have not returned to normal?
Schools were closed around the world, and it took courage to reopen our schools, and there are parts of the world that have not yet made up for the closure of schools necessitated by the pandemic.
Probably, Mr Speaker, the most poignant aspect of those times was not the fear that gripped us all, but the fact that we were unable to shake hands or hug each other, and we could not have funerals for our dead.
It is worth emphasizing the point that, with the help of the Ghanaian people and the guidance of the Almighty, we managed the pandemic in our country to the admiration of the whole world.
Indeed, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ghana emerged as a leader in Africa, managing the crisis with a balanced approach that prioritized lives and livelihoods.
We were among the first countries on the continent to secure vaccines and roll out a comprehensive vaccination programme.
The establishment of our own vaccine manufacturing facility, under the supervision of the National Vaccine Institute, a body created by Act of Parliament, in collaboration with international partners is a testament to our resolve to build resilience in our healthcare system.
In the spirit of transparency and accountability, a parliamentary audit was conducted on the accounts relating to COVID-19 expenditures, reflecting my government’s attachment to accountability and the effective stewardship of public resources during a time of crisis.
However, the consequences of the COVID-19 upheavals on all aspects of our lives have gone way beyond what anyone could have imagined.
We are still dealing with the effects on the economy.
But let me first deal briefly with the effects on the health sector.
The pandemic showed up some of the alarming shortcomings of our health delivery system, and we have tried to seek remedies to ensure that we are reasonably prepared to meet the next emergencies.
The most important intervention is the Agenda 111 project we have embarked upon that aims to place a hospital in every district.
Out of the one hundred and one (101) district hospitals and two (2) Psychiatric hospitals on the project list, there are ninety-nine (99) district and two (2) psychiatric hospitals where contractors are deployed and work is in progress.
I had hoped that construction would be completed on all of them, but that was not to be.
I am pleased to report that on December 5, I had the utmost pleasure to commission three (3) of the district hospitals.
Progress of works on the other ninety-eight (98) active sites range from five percent (5%) for sites whose work commenced recently to ninety-five percent (95%) at other sites.
I am hoping that the incoming Mahama administration would ensure that the project is completed to put our health infrastructure on a sound footing.
Furthermore, we launched the National Ambulance Service’s revitalisation programme, increasing the number of ambulances from fifty-five (55) barely functioning ambulances to over three hundred (300), ensuring timely emergency response and saving countless lives.
The strides in healthcare reflect our collective commitment to building a system that prioritizes the dignity, health and well-being of every Ghanaian.
Furthermore, we have revived the National Health Insurance Scheme which, at one point before I came into office, appeared to be reverting to the days of “cash and carry”.
The number of subscribers has risen from ten-point-six-million (10.6 million) in 2016 to seventeen-point-nine million (17.9 million) at the end of 2023, with the renewal of subscriptions being facilitated by a tap on the mobile phone, and the scope of the Scheme being broadened to include treatment for sickle cell disease, kidney dialysis and childhood cancers.
Mr Speaker, our economy took a bigger hit from the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing consequences than had been anticipated, and in 2021 and 2022, we were in unaccustomed trouble.
Our economy, which, in my first term, had been widely acknowledged to have performed creditably, marked by the longest period of single digit inflation, seven percent (7%) average GDP real growth rate, and strong external balances, was on its knees.
The government’s difficulties in Parliament, with the slimmest of majorities, gave the impetus to the international rating agencies to trash us on their assumption that we would struggle to get financial policy measures passed through the Legislature.
We faced the problems we encountered with equanimity, took a deep breath and decided to apply for an IMF-supported Programme, dubbed post-COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG) in the middle of 2023.
The Implementation of the Programme so far has gone well even as it has been challenging.
We have passed successfully through three successive reviews of programme implementation by the IMF Board, with the most recent review approved on 2nd December, 2024 leading to the disbursement of $360 million.
The Fund has, therefore, disbursed a cumulative one-point-nine-two billion United States dollars (US$1.92 billion) to date.
At the moment, I am able to say with confidence that the crisis is over, and that the economy has recovered strongly and faster than projected.
In order for me to be able to make this assertion, I must make reference to the debt restructuring exercise.