ghananlpcommunity/ghana-gov-speeches-sentences huggingface dataset:
Mr Speaker, it is precisely because the economic fallout from the pandemic is so widespread and long lasting that it is important to show clearly that the COVID funds were not misused.
It is critical that we do not lose the confidence of the people that a crisis that they were led to believe we were all in together was abused for personal gain.
Mr Speaker, it was Government that asked for the COVID funds to be audited, and I can assure this House that nothing dishonourable was done with the COVID funds.
The responses from the Ministers for Health and Finance, on January 23 and 25, 2023, respectively, have sufficiently laid to rest the queries from the Auditor General’s report, and I believe any objective scrutiny of these statements from the Health and Finance Ministries would justify this conclusion.
We provided five hundred and eighteen million cedis (GH¢518 million) of grants and loans to micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) through the NBSSI, now the Ghana Enterprise Agency, in which three hundred and two thousand, five hundred and fifteen (302,515) enterprises benefitted, of which sixty percent (60%) were women-owned.
These were MSMEs that were in distress as a result of the pandemic.
For some traders, the receipt of one thousand cedis (GH¢1,000) made the difference between the ruin of the household and survival.
In addition, fifty-eight thousand and forty-one (58,041) health workers were employed to supplement the existing health sector workforce.
Subsequently, all of them have been absorbed as permanent workers in the health sector.
Frontline health workers were also granted fifty percent (50%) tax relief for the period.
Was that something to regret?
We should be forever grateful for the work that so many people did to keep all of us safe.
All households enjoyed free water supply and huge discounts on electricity bills, because access to water was a necessity to ensure people adhered to hygiene practices, and access to electricity was important as everybody was encouraged to stay at home.
It also provided an economic cushion to protect lives and livelihoods at a time of difficulty.
Today, the government support for utility bills is being projected by some as a waste or to use that word, so beloved of some commentators, profligate.
Mr Speaker, the government took a deliberate decision to try and keep the inevitable disruptions across all our lives down to a minimum in the education sector, by opening schools and education institutions as soon as it was made safe to do so.
It was an expensive undertaking and not universally popular.
But faced with the prospect of a whole generation of our children losing irreplaceable years of education, and the real likelihood of many of them dropping out of school forever, we took the brave decision to open the institutions.
Even then, it is worth pointing out that the school year has not fully returned to the predictable pre-covid calendar.
After the event, some might be tempted to forget the volumes of sanitizer and other logistics it took to keep the schools open and safe, in much the same way as some might now choose to forget the vitriol that came from some who should have known better, threatening hell and damnation when, according to them, the children start dying in the schools.
Mercifully, we did not lose a single child to COVID in school.
I would like to suggest that, with the best will in the world, Mr Speaker, no auditor can put a figure on the cost of keeping the children in school safely during that crisis, nor the continuing cost of the effect of the pandemic on our young people; not the financial cost, not the emotional cost, and certainly not the social cost.
But we must thank the Almighty that we have survived to repair the damage, and begin to rebuild our economy.
Beyond the use of COVID funds, there are legitimate questions being asked about how the country’s debt situation got where it is.
Mr Speaker, let me state emphatically that we have not been reckless in borrowing and in spending.
It is worth noting that the debts we are servicing were not only contracted during the period of this administration.
Mr Speaker, 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 (6) 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.
But, Mr Speaker, 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?
Mr Speaker, I would like to state categorically that this Government has built more roads than any government in the history of the 4th Republic, and Mr.
Speaker, the details of all these roads are attached in the annex to this Message.
I have done so because, last year, when I made a similar pronouncement, I was met with howls and gasps of incredulity from the Minority benches, and so I thought it appropriate, this time, to present it as an annex to the Statement, which will be part of Hansard.
Beyond the construction of roads, Mr Speaker, this NPP administration has: • implemented successfully a National Identification System with the Ghanacard; • constructed more railways than any other government in the Fourth Republic; • established the Zongo Development Fund to address the needs of Zongo and inner-city communities; and under their auspices, we have constructed more infrastructure in the Zongo Communities than any other government in the Fourth Republic; • constructed more NCA licensed fibre optic cable than any other government in the fourth republic (93% of total); • increased the proportion of the population with access to toilet facilities from 33% to 59%; • increased the number of public libraries from 61 from independence until 2017 to 115 in 2022; • provided more equipment (vehicles, ammunition, etc) to security services than any other government in the Fourth Republic; • we have successfully implemented the digital address system; • improved significantly the financing of governance and anti-corruption MDAs like the Ministry of Justice and Office of the Attorney General, NCCE, CHRAJ, EOCO etc.
; • implemented One District, One Factory Initiative.
In four years, 106 companies are in operation under 1D1F.
148 factories under construction.
This is the largest expansion of that sector since independence; • constructed more fish landing sites than any other government in the Fourth Republic; • established Africa’s first national scale electronic pharmacy platform; • provided free Wifi to 700 senior high schools, the 46 Colleges of Education, 260 district education offices, and an initial successful pilot of 13 public universities; • introduced drones in the delivery of critical medicine, vaccines and blood to people in remote parts of the country and today, Ghana has the largest medical drone delivery service in the world with six Zipline Distribution Centres in Omenako, Mpanya, Vobsi, Sefwi Wiawso, Kete Krachi and Anum; and • overseen an improvement in revenue collection, with the introduction of an e-VAT and e-Invoicing System.
For example, figures from nineteen (19) taxpaying companies onboarded unto the e-Vat system revealed total recorded monthly sales increasing from two hundred and twenty-two million cedis (GH¢222 million) in November 2021 to seven hundred and twenty million cedis (GH¢720 million) in November 2022.
Again, in December 2021, total monthly sales of two hundred and eighty-four million cedis (GH¢284 million) also saw a huge increase to one billion cedis (GH¢1 billion) in December 2022.
Indeed, the evidence of how state funds have been used to improve our society is all over the country.
No district or constituency has been left out.
And I believe there are many Ghanaians who will vehemently disagree when some say there is nothing to show for all the funds that have been at my government’s disposal.
Mr Speaker, I would like, at this stage, to brief the House on how the talks with the International Monetary Fund have been going since the announcement on July 1, 2022 of our intention to engage the IMF for a funded Programme.
Mr Speaker, having reached the Staff Level Agreement on December 12, 2022, after five months of intense negotiations, and completion of most of the prior actions required under the Agreement, we are on course for the IMF Staff to present to the IMF Executive Board Ghana’s Programme request for a three billion dollar (US$3 billion) Extended Credit Facility by the end of the month.
Mr Speaker, the three-year IMF Programme, anchored on Government’s Post COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG), aims at restoring macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, whilst protecting the vulnerable.
It is a strong reform programme, which relies on frontloaded fiscal measures to increase domestic resource mobilisation and streamline public expenditures to support inclusive growth and enhance social protection.
Mr Speaker, I thank the House for its support throughout this process, including the passage of key revenue laws.
However, a few more of these measures, namely the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, Excise Duty and Excise Tax Stamp (Amendment) Bills, as well as the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill, are outstanding and need the urgent attention of the House and passage to complete the prior actions.
This will put us in readiness for our presentation to the Fund Board, and, more importantly, bolster our domestic revenue mobilisation efforts.
Mr Speaker, it is clear that, given the extent of the fiscal and debt sustainability issue we are addressing, fiscal adjustment and structural reforms are not sufficient for the restoration of debt sustainability.
A critical component of the measures we are implementing to address the current economic crisis is the debt operation, involving both domestic debt and external debt.
The debt operation is aimed at returning the country to debt sustainable path by 2028, by reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio on a general classification basis and, in present value terms, from 103% in 2022 to 55% by 2028; and reducing the external debt service-to-revenue ratio from 29% in 2022 to 18% by 2028.
Mr Speaker, in order to achieve these goals, the decision was taken to execute a Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), in addition to fiscal adjustment, external debt operation and structural reforms.
The participation rate of 85%, representing tendered bonds of GH¢83 billion out of the total eligible bonds of GH¢97,749,624,691, constitutes significant success for the DDE Programme.
The GH¢83 billion bonds that were successfully tendered, also, represent 64% of the outstanding domestic debt stock of GH¢130 billion at the end of December 2022, as pension funds have been expressly exempted from the DDEP.
I want to take this opportunity to thank organised labour, pensioners, pension fund managers, the Ghana Association of Banks (GAB), Ghana Securities Industry Association (GSIA), Ghana Insurers Association (GIA), the Individual Bond Holders and Retirees Forum, and all others who have contributed to make the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme a success.
Speaker, I know it has been said over and over again in the past few weeks, but the voluntary nature of the DDE Programme bears repeating, as is the fact that the Government is committed to honouring all coupon payments and maturities in respect of both old bonds and the new bonds in line with Government fiscal commitments.
Speaker, we are also making progress on the external debt negotiations since the Government announced an external debt service suspension on 19th December 2022 for certain categories of external debt, to ensure an orderly restructuring.
This suspension is an interim emergency measure toward a comprehensive external debt operation which will contribute to the restoration of our debt sustainability in line with our request for a debt treatment under the G20 Common Framework.
I want to express our appreciation to the members of the Paris Club and to the Peoples’ Republic of China for the co-operation they have so far exhibited to us in attempting to reach an agreement, and in their attempt to establish an Official Credit Committee.
We look forward to their fast-tracking the needed financing assurances for IMF approval.
We are confident that, with their co-operation, we will reach our March deadline for going to the Fund.
Speaker, we remain resolute in our vision to restore macroeconomic stability and promote inclusive growth.
Mr Speaker, Government recognises that sustained growth must be deliberate, especially in a global landscape marked by forces of technology, trade, and intense competition.
It requires a combination of leadership, social cohesion, and deep investments in core capabilities of people, firms, and institutions to harness our opportunities.
This is why together with our private sector counterparts, we are anchoring Ghana’s medium-term growth drivers on competitiveness, integration, adaptation and digital innovation, all aimed at raising per capita GDP from the current two thousand, five hundred dollars (US$2,500) to four thousand, five hundred dollars (US$4,500) (aligning with the Ghana Beyond Aid Charter) by 2030.
Mr Speaker, concluding the arrangements with the Fund will not restore our fortunes overnight, but it will set us on the road to recovery.
With fiscal discipline, we will regain the trust and confidence of our business partners and the investor community, which will give us space to continue our productive plans and policies.
However, in addition to our engagement with the Fund, we are also seeking and implementing some original and innovative ideas to try to solve our problems.
For example, the Gold Purchase Programme by the Bank of Ghana and the Gold for Oil Policy are creative uses of our resources, which are already bearing fruit.
These policies are aimed at achieving two results that are critical to the health of our economy.
Firstly, they will help us preserve foreign exchange, especially the US dollar, and secondly, they will enable us to stabilise the price of oil products such as petrol and diesel on the domestic market.
We have already seen some success on both fronts with the price of US dollars and petroleum products falling since we announced the policy and began to implement it.
The average price of petrol at the pump, which had risen to GH¢20 a litre, in the middle of December 2022, is now GH¢13.80 a litre.
The price of diesel had risen to more than GH¢23.70 a litre and is now selling on average at GH¢13.80 a litre, which is a reduction of almost GH¢10 a litre.
We expect this trend of falling fuel prices to reflect soon in our daily lives since transport fares affect the price of everything.
I hope the trend of prices going up and coming down becomes a regular feature of our retail economy as is being demonstrated in the fuel prices.
Because, as we all know, prices, especially of petroleum products, used only to go up in our country.
I do worry about the extraordinary expenditure on security at our borders but we do not have a choice but to spend resources to keep our borders safe.
We dare not compromise on the safety and security of our nation, and my first responsibility as your Commander-In-Chief is to keep all of us safe.
The foundation for all development is the safety and security of our nation and its people.
The reality of the state of affairs in our neighbourhood demands that the government goes to great lengths to ensure the security, safety and stability of our nation.
The threats of terrorism and violent extremism surrounding us require that we pay maximum attention to protecting our borders, and working in collaboration with our neighbours to keep our country and the Region safe.
This is the prime motive for the Accra Initiative, which is already yielding results.
Speaker, I am able to cite here some of the equipment we have provided the military to help them protect us all.
Allow me to list a few.
The Army has received 104 armoured personnel carriers; seventy (70) utility troop carrying vehicles; twenty (20) armoured vehicles; 85 assorted Toyota vehicles; 50 Ankai buses; 40 Jeep J8 vehicles; some Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) equipment; large quantities of communication/surveillance equipment; varying quantities of weapons and four un-maned aerial vehicle systems; and the Ghana Navy has taken delivery of four offshore security vessels and four Zodiac boats.
We have also continued the process of upgrading the housing needs of the security services.
The Barracks Regeneration Project Phases I and II, the Military Housing Project Phases I and II and the Ghana Military Academy Infrastructure project are expected to be completed and handed over by the end of May this year.
Mr Speaker, we continue to pay attention to the Police Service.
We can now see more of the police on our streets in the urban areas.
Ever so gradually, driving on our roads is becoming more orderly.
I note that even motorbike riders now stop at traffic lights.
Five hundred and four (504) housing units, comprising 72; one bedroom and 432 self-contained units have been completed for the Police Service.
Recently, I delivered 100 pickups, 600 motorbikes and six armoured personnel carriers to the Police Service to boost operational capacity.
For the first time in our nation’s history, the Police Service has dedicated helicopters to help with their operations.
Mr Speaker, I must share some good news with the House.
I am particularly proud of the dramatic intervention government has made to tackle the long-lasting and utterly disgraceful problem of dilapidated and inadequate number of courts in our country.
Many of the courts have not been fit for purpose, and do not provide suitable facilities for the efficient administration of justice.
The inadequacy means that people have to travel long distances to gain access to courts.
As someone who for years earned my living as a practising lawyer, I have first-hand experience of the unacceptable state of courthouses around the country and I am glad to inform the House that we are resolving this problem.
Through the Ministry of Local Government and the District Assembly Common Fund, Government has embarked on the construction of 120 courthouses with accompanying accommodations for judges across the country.
Indeed, 60 have been completed, and the others are at various stages of completion.
For the first time ever, we have the happy situation of purpose-built courthouses with accommodations that are waiting for judges to be appointed to put them to use.
Six new Regional High Courts, fitted with judges’ residences, are also being constructed in the new regions, i.e., Ahafo, Bono East, North East, Oti, Savannah and Western North.
Three of the courts, that is those in North East, Oti, and Savannah have been completed and commissioned.
Those in Ahafo, Bono East and Western North Regions will be completed by April.
Mr Speaker, I had the pleasant duty on October 17, 2022, to commission a new, modern Court of Appeal complex in Kumasi, together with 20 townhouses and a guesthouse to serve as permanent residences for Court of Appeal Judges based in Kumasi, who are mandated to handle appeals from the northern part of the country.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who generously gave the land, was present at the ceremony.
It is a truly magnificent site and I recommend it to Honourable Members who go to Kumasi to pay a visit and see it for themselves.
In addition, 210 vehicles were, earlier in 2022, distributed to all judges in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court and Lower Courts.
Mr Speaker, it is a well-known fact that, in this administration, TVET and STEM feature frequently in all conversations about education.
Technical and vocational education is being given the place of honour they deserve.
Since the re-alignment and introduction of free TVET, enrolment in TVET schools have increased from 13,000 in 2021 to 47,000, and all the indications are that this is a trend that will continue.
In 2022, the TVET service recruited 3,400 staff, the highest in the history of TVET in Ghana, to accommodate this development.
I was told last week about one young person who was placed in Achimota School in the current school placement exercise and has turned it down to go to a STEM school.
I think we are making progress.
The strides we are making in education are already changing lives and changing the narrative.
As of this year, nearly two million young people have benefitted from the free SHS policy.
Predictions that the policy would lead to a lowering of standards proved wide of the mark.
On the contrary, the results under the free SHS have shown a systematic improvement and as a result, 2 million young people have either found a pathway to further education, training, apprenticeships or employment because of the free SHS policy.
I am proud of the additional infrastructure in education, especially the provision of ultra-modern classroom blocks for several schools, which are equipped with laboratories, ICT centres and libraries; the establishment of ten 10 STEM centres across the country including one in Accra to aid the study of engineering and robotics.
Construction has started at the University of Agricultural Science in Bunso in the Eastern Region.
Mr Speaker, apart from the enhancement of revenue and the judicious use of resources, we are all agreed that we need to do something about our huge import bill.
Last year, I set up a five-member ad hoc Cabinet committee to work on a policy to enhance domestic production and export development with a four-fold strategy to: (1) reduce the country’s import bill in the short-, medium- and long-term; (2) enhance domestic productive capacity in selected products; (3) generate widespread employment opportunities; and (4) diversify and expand our export capacity to Africa and beyond, especially through the vehicle of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
In 2021, Ghana’s total import bill was put at US$13.7 billion, according to GRA/ICUMS.
On the evidence of existing local productive capacity, we have identified a list of twenty (20) priority products in the categories of primary agricultural products, processed foods, and manufactured goods, where we can confidently enhance domestic production.
Amongst these are rice, fish, poultry, fruit juice, sugar, tomatoes, vegetable oils, oil palm, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, soaps and detergents, insulated wire, ceramic products, corrugated paper and paper board, cement/clinker, and motor vehicles.
The report on the implementation modalities to enhance domestic productive capacity in these products has been prepared and, once confirmed, the new Minister for Trade & Industry will roll out urgently a series of initiatives to implement the policy.
I want, at this stage, to make mention of one particular programme that has been introduced by the Government to address the needs of the youth and women, the YouStart programme.