ghananlpcommunity/ghana-gov-speeches-sentences huggingface dataset:
Our government will re-focus the National Investment Bank (NIB) to provide finance for the industrial sector.
We shall establish an Industrial Development Fund (IDF) to finance critical private sector industrial initiatives and realign the focus of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) to attract financing and investments into selected strategic industries.
Ladies and gentlemen, we accept that not everyone in business or in this room for that matter, would be or needs to be an NPP supporter.
What we need are astute and dynamic business entrepreneurs of whatever political persuasion.
The incoming administration will therefore strive to eliminate the current system of political patronage that distorts our economy.
There is an urgent need to restructure existing state-sponsored microfinance schemes such as MASLOC to provide credit for SMEs, while strengthening oversight responsibilities over privately-financed microfinance institutions.
ENERGY FOR INDUSTRY Probably the most acute challenge that industries and businesses have faced in the past five years has been power related.
The power supply has been inadequate, unreliable and expensive for industries and businesses.
My dear friends, the power problems will be resolved to ensure that businesses can spend their energies on more productive and innovative issues.
RAW MATERIALS FOR INDUSTRY Another major problem facing industry is the inadequate and poor quality raw materials for industrial processing.
We shall provide specific incentives for the production and supply of quality, locally-produced non-agricultural raw materials for industry at competitive prices.
We shall provide a comprehensive programme of support for the cultivation of selected agricultural products as raw materials for agro-processing, including tomato, cassava, cocoa, soya beans, maize, oil palm, cashew, cotton, sheanut, selected fruits, groundnuts and rice.
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR INDUSTRY Skills shortage is one of the critical areas that our government will address urgently.
The technical, vocational and skill training sectors will receive the attention they deserve.
We shall in partnership with the private sector, transform the apprenticeship training model from a supply-driven approach to a market- demand model based on the German apprenticeship model, and we shall create an information portal and set up a task force to assist our youth and artisans in making their products and services visible on a local, national, and global scale.
We have identified some key initiatives integral to our Industrial Development Strategy, which we intend to implement vigorously.
I refer in particular to the “One District One Factory Initiative” and I want to emphasize that this policy will be implemented in collaboration with the private sector.
I refer also to the Strategic Anchor Initiatives: Government will partner private local and foreign investors to develop large-scale strategic anchor industries to serve as growth poles for the economy, especially in petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, iron and steel, cement, aluminium, salt, vehicle assembly, manufacture of heavy machinery, equipment and machine parts, agro-processing, garments and textiles, assembly of electronics and light machinery.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have also planned an Industrial Subcontracting Exchange.
Through a concerted, collaborative and collective effort, the government will enforce local content provisions by developing efficient and competitive local supplier networks for the goods and services that industry needs and that can realistically be sourced locally.
To facilitate this, we shall develop a National Industrial Subcontracting Exchange to link SMEs with large scale enterprises.
EMPOWERING LOCAL BUSINESSES We believe in empowering the local private sector and will pass legislation to require that at least 70% of all Government of Ghana, taxpayer-financed contracts and procurements be executed by local corporate entities.
In addition, we will introduce a policy requiring that 30% of the required 70% be sourced from entities owned by women, persons with disability, and those established under the Youth Enterprise Fund (YEF).
HARMONY IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS My administration will work with stakeholders, including employers and trade unions, in an open and fair manner on employee welfare, as well as ensuring living wages for all workers.
We intend to develop, in collaboration with employers, trade unions, educational institutions and other state bodies, such as SSNIT, a database of the labour market with the view to establishing a National Recruitment Agency to serve as the primary source for channelling job openings to Ghanaians.
We will also work with employers and trade unions to formulate a policy of comprehensive occupational health and safety standards In sum, ours is a holistic approach to job creation, and our goal is that by the end of the next decade, industrial and manufacturing activities will be the mainstay of our economy.
Ladies and gentlemen, Agriculture continues to be the anchor of the country’s economy, employing more than half of our workforce.
Growth in this sector has declined dramatically and needs to be reinvigorated urgently.
Food is unnecessarily expensive in a country that is blessed with fertile land.
Our production methods are not modern and income levels of farmers and fisher folk remain low, thus making the sector unattractive for the youth as a sustainable means of livelihood.
Our vision for the next four years is to modernize agriculture, improve production efficiency, achieve food security, and profitability for our farmers, all aimed at significantly increasing agricultural productivity.
Our government will pursue a value-addition strategy, aimed at rapidly ramping up agro-processing and developing new and stable markets for our products.
Our policies and interventions will ensure that our farmers and fisherfolk earn higher incomes.
Our reforms will encompass the full agricultural value chain and create additional businesses and job opportunities in the areas of storage, transport, processing, packaging and marketing of agricultural produce.
District Assemblies and Traditional Authorities will be assigned specific roles in agricultural development and we will adopt policies specifically targeted at supporting women in agriculture.
The historic mission of the Danquah-Dombo-Busia political tradition is two-fold.
The first is to establish within the body politic of Ghana a democratic system of governance where the rule of law, respect for human rights and the principles of democratic accountability are entrenched.
The recent conduct of the Ghanaian people on 7 th December, 2016, when, in all serenity and dignity, they exercised their sovereign power to the admiration of the whole world, shows that we have, indeed, taken decisive steps towards realising that objective.
Knowing that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, we cannot slacken.
We have to continue with that journey.
The second is to establish the primacy of the private sector in the development of our nation’s economy.
That is the task confronting us now, and I am summoning you to partner with my government to achieve the task.
As you can see, there are many specific issues that your Chief Executive outlined, which have not received a specific response.
That will come later.
The presentation here has been a more broad outline of where we stand in terms of thinking and overall posture.
The specific responses will follow a more detailed examination of what was in the paper.
For now, there are four issues to conclude which are not part of the brief, formal text.
I confirm the relevance of the statement made by the Chief Executive of PEF about the need for public expenditure to support the growth of the private sector.
I endorse fully that statement.
I came here with Alan Kyerematen, because he is the person who is going to be the Minister for Trade and Industry in the Akufo-Addo government.
I say going to be, because with all respects to the Parliament, the NPP majority in that body should guarantee that his name passes!!
I thought you should know this, and know that you are going to be dealing with a very competent and knowledgeable political figure of the first rank, whom I am confident is going to oversee the rapid industrialisation of our country.
Neither he nor any of the people who are going to be working with me are going to be your competitors.
Ours is the public sector, and you are the private sector.
The former is meant to be a supporter, not a competitor, of the private sector.
And that is how it is going to be.
I am going to repeat here something I have said several times.
Those who seek to be in my government to make money are going to be disappointed.
They will make money in the private sector, not in the public sector.
Finally, the call for dialogue between your organisation and other private sector bodies with government is going to be given concrete institutional expression.
Ladies and Gentlemen, if you didn’t know it already, I am sure I have now convinced you that we have an ambitious but I believe deliverable programmes for my Administration.
These programs will not be deliverable if you the Private Sector are not confident or able to play your crucial part.
And so I tell you, my friends gathered here in this room and the Private sector at large, You asked for a Government that spoke your language and believed in the Private Sector you asked for Policies that supported rather than hindered your plans you asked for a Government that listened and worked with you rather than dictated to you you asked for a Government with a team of professionals able to deliver on our promises and You asked for Transparency and Accountability in Government.
You are getting it.
Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.
And that will mean from the January 8.
We intend to keep our side of the compact and we expect the same from you.
There are exciting times ahead of us.
Join us to build that happy and prosperous nation we all want for our nation.
I thank you and may God bless us all and our country Ghana.
Fellow Ghanaians, It has been said that “democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others”.
We, in Ghana, should know, for we have tried virtually all the others.
We have held elections that were not free and fair; we have had constitutional regimes without limitations placed on executive power; we have had rule by law without rule of law; and we have lived under a number of military dictatorships.
Just as we demonstrated in the drive towards independence in the 1940s and 1950s, we showed again in the 1990s, after the initial decades of turbulence in our national life, our determination to live in conditions of freedom and democracy.
So it was that on 28 th April 1992, some 31 years ago, we approved, by an overwhelming margin in a Referendum of that day, with 3,408,119 persons, representing 92.59%, in favour, with 272,855 persons against, i.e.
a mere 7.41%, the adoption of the provisions of the Constitution of the 4 th Republic, which set up the institutions of a liberal democratic state, operating on the basis of the separation of powers, with express guarantees of fundamental human rights.
It was, thus, promulgated with immense, popular backing.
Tomorrow, Saturday, 7 th January 2023, will be exactly 30 years since the Constitution of the 4 th Republic came into force, with the inauguration into office of the first President of the 4 th Republic, His Excellency the late Jerry John Rawlings.
It has inspired the longest period of stable constitutional governance in our history, with a consensus emerging strongly that the democratic form of governance is preferable, and the benefits are showing.
Hence the decision to celebrate 7 th January as Constitution Day.
Our country is considered a beacon of democracy and stability in Africa, where respect for the principles of democratic accountability, human rights and the rule of law have enabled us to oversee eight presidential elections in the 4 th Republic, with five presidential transitions, and three peaceful transfers of power, through the ballot box, from one party to another.
We have every right to be proud of this, and the celebration of the 30 th anniversary of the 4 th Republic should inspire us, even further, to hold on to this status.
Fellow Ghanaians, I acknowledge that the strength of any democracy is very much determined by the credibility of its electoral process, and respect for the will of the people.
We cannot overlook the fact that instability has followed disputed elections in many parts of the African continent.
That is why we, in Ghana, must continue to urge the Electoral Commission to work to ensure that all stakeholders in the electoral process, that is the citizenry, civil society and political parties, do not have lingering questions about the legitimacy of an election.
On the two occasions in which disputes have arisen over the results of presidential elections, happily, it was in the court, and not on the streets, that the issues were satisfactorily resolved.
By all accounts, we have come a long way, and we should not take it for granted that everybody in Ghana has accepted democracy as the preferred mode of governance.
There are those who would rather have an authoritarian rule because they claim our country is underdeveloped and democracy is cumbersome, and we need to get things done in a hurry.
We still have some work to do to convince such people that we are all safer under democracies.
Nevertheless, if we seek to prolong our democratic journey, it is imperative that we enhance transparency and accountability in our governance structures, and build strong institutions that can fight corruption and the dissipation of public funds.
I say, without any form of equivocation, that my government has undertaken, arguably, the boldest initiatives since independence to reform and strengthen the capacity of our institutions to tackle corruption in the public sector, including the financial empowerment of the anti-corruption bodies, the passage of the Right to Information Act, which previous administrations had been unable to effect, and the establishment of the Office of Special Prosecutor, an independent, non-partisan body, with the relevant professional capability and exclusive mandate to investigate and prosecute acts of corruption.
As President of the Republic, I assure you that, out of duty to our children and grandchildren, and to generations yet unborn, my government will not give up when it comes to deepening our democracy and guaranteeing the integrity of the electoral process, and neither should you, the Ghanaian people.
We do not have to look far back into history to see that a stable period of constitutional government and intelligent management of the economy lead to prosperity.
We must do everything within our means to safeguard our democracy.
Tomorrow’s milestone is to the great credit of you, the Ghanaian people, the ordinary men and women who make up the fabric of our nation.
Thirty years ago, all of us resolved to build, under God, a united nation, grounded in democratic values and the rule of law.
We have advanced a great deal in realising this vision, and I am confident that, with a spirit of fairness, hard work, integrity and reconciliation, the best days of Mother Ghana lie ahead of us.
Even though we are presently confronted with difficulties in our economic performance, I do not doubt our collective resolve to work our way out of these challenges and put our nation back onto the path of progress and prosperity.
Let us, therefore, continue to work to create 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 birthed.
Long Live Constitution Day, Long Live Ghanaian democracy, Long Live the 4 th Republic.
Thank you for your attention and have a good evening.
By common consent, all well-meaning Ghanaians have agreed that the democratic form of governance is the most preferable, and we must do everything possible to guarantee the longevity of the 4th Republic.
I have spent my adult life fighting for our individual and collective rights, and it is, therefore, gratifying to note that the nation's adherence to democracy has not waned.
We know that there are no quick fixes to the challenges confronting us, and, as we have seen in recent times, democratic structures of governance are capable of accommodating the most difficult of circumstances.
We have, happily, turned the corner on our economic situation, as we experience the rebound of the national economy, and we will continue to work strongly on the problems facing the nation, knowing that the solution, every four years, rests, in part, on the sovereign will of the Ghanaian people, when you exercise your power to choose freely your leaders to manage the affairs of the country.
Democracies are grounded on viable elections, and, this year, like we have done on eight other preceding occasions, we will go to the polls to elect the President and my successor.
No true democrat can disregard the importance of elections and the sanctity of the ballot.
It must, thus, be in our collective interest to ensure that the rules and regulations for the conduct of this year's elections are fair and transparent and that we all develop respect for them, respect that should not be a function of whether you win or lose.
All stakeholders, that is the Electoral Commission, the political parties and their leaders, the electorate and the citizenry, should work to ensure the consolidation of Ghanaian democracy, and help us maintain our pride of place on the continent as a model of democracy in Africa.
At the end of it all, there should be no lingering doubt about the legitimacy of the election, and the winning candidates, at the conclusion of the process, should receive the unalloyed support of all.
On a lighter note, three years on, I am still waiting for my main opponent in the 2020 elections to congratulate me on my victory.
I swore an oath on 7th January 2017 and, again, four years later, on 7th January 2021, to be faithful and true to the Republic of Ghana, and preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.
I shall continue to do just that.
It will not be under my watch that any adventurer will seek to torpedo the democratic path on which we are embarked.
I will help see to it that we have a free, fair and transparent election in December 2024.
You have my word!
Ghana will be the victor of such an outcome, not any individual party or candidate.
Nonetheless, I urge you, my fellow Ghanaians, to continue to embrace the basic values of the Constitution, founded on the principles of democratic accountability and respect for the rule of law, human rights and individual liberty and freedom, which the great majority of us believe must form the bedrock of our national development and individual prosperity.
Yet alongside this freedom, we must, with the same passion and commitment, uphold our individual and collective responsibility to contribute proactively toward the greater good of society.
This is the vision of a free society.
No society can be truly free unless its citizens feel the need to embrace both liberty and duty, hard work and compassion.
Ghana is considered a beacon of democracy and stability in Africa, and the celebration of Constitution Day should inspire us, Ghanaians, even further, to hold on to this enviable status.
Once again, I thank Almighty God, and, you, the Ghanaian people, for giving me the opportunity to serve you these past seven years.
I have not taken it lightly.
I remain committed to the mandate you freely gave me, and will use the last year of my stay in office to do all in my power to continue to help create a free and prosperous nation of opportunities for all.
The Battle is the Lord's!
VOTE OF THANKS DELIVERED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA, NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO, AT THE CLOSING CEREMONY OF THE 28TH ORDINARY SESSION OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE AFRICAN UNION, ON JANUARY 31, 2017, IN ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA.
Ghana and my modest person are honoured by the invitation of the newly installed Chairperson of the Assembly, His Excellency Alpha Condé, to move the vote of thanks to all who have contributed in their various ways to the outstanding success of this landmark Summit.
It may, somehow, be appropriate that, at a time when we are attempting to renew our organization and its values, a Guinean should be in the chair and a Ghanaian at the podium, for this may recall the early days of Africa’s independence, when the strategic alliance of Ghana-Guinea-Mali was one of the seminal events that paved the way for the establishment of our predecessor body, the Organisation of African Unity, in this historic, ancient city of Addis Ababa, in 1963, some 54 years ago.
We salute the election to the leadership of our Union of the Guinean President, His Excellency Alpha Condé, a renowned fighter for democracy and human rights in his native Guinea.
Sir, ‘ayekoo’, as they say in Ghana.
The Assembly has conferred on you a new Bureau, composed of some of the most redoubtable figures of contemporary African politics – their Excellencies Yoweri Museveni, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, King Mswati III, and Idriss Déby Itno – and a new Commission led by the accomplished Foreign Minister of Chad, with an equally accomplished Ghanaian diplomat as his Deputy and a new set of apparently solid Commissioners.
The elements are in place for the successful tenure of office of President Alpha Condé, and we wish him well.
We thank the people and government of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia for their traditional, warm hospitality for our meeting.
Addis Ababa continues to cement its reputation as the diplomatic capital of Africa.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, thank you.
The Commission of our Union, together with all the other organs, be they policy or advisory, deserve our commendation for the dedication and professionalism with which they have mobilised the facilities placed at our disposal throughout the period of the 28 th Ordinary Session of the Assembly, including the working documents and the transportation, interpretation and protocol services.
Every human organization can always be improved, but we remain, nonetheless, sincerely grateful for their efforts.
I have called this Summit a landmark one, because of the far reaching decisions that we have taken here.
We have made the bold decision to admit one of new Africa’s founding states, the Kingdom of Morocco, into our fold and extend the reach of our organization, finally, to all parts of our continent, with all its implications.
We have adopted the comprehensive proposals for the reform of our institutions prepared by the respected leader of Rwanda, His Excellency President Paul Kagame, and his advisory council of experts.
If vigorously implemented, these proposals will give a significant and enhanced impetus to the operations of our Union.
We owe President Kagame and his team a profound debt of gratitude for their excellent work.
We have taken the equally bold decision to finance our operations from our own resources and wean ourselves off foreign dependence and charity.
The implementation of that decision is necessary for our self-respect.
We have also met our deadline of putting into place a programme for the establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area to boost our chances for self-reliant economic development, which will, hopefully, help realise the enormous potential of our continent and help bring prosperity and dignity, at long last, to the long-suffering peoples of Africa.
If these and other measures are carried out in their letter and spirit, they will, indeed, mean that this has been a landmark Summit, one which will have succeeded in rekindling the values of “unity, solidarity and cohesion” that have been the founding values of our continental organization.