ghananlpcommunity/ghana-gov-speeches-sentences huggingface dataset:
This situation placed severe pressure on households and undermined national stability.
Today, food inflation has declined significantly to 4.9%, providing relief to Ghanaian families and businesses.
In addition, we have committed GHS 300 million to the National Food Buffer Stock Company to mop up excess produce, stabilise prices, and build a strategic national food buffer against emergencies, marking the first time Ghana has deliberately built a food reserve for national resilience.
Over 413 institutions, from basic schools through to tertiary institutions, have been registered and are actively participating in the Feed Ghana Programme.
Institutional farming is currently being undertaken by the Ghana Armed Forces, the Ghana Prisons Service, the National Service Authority, basic and second-cycle schools, public universities, and faith-based organisations, including churches and mosques.
A key pillar of the Feed Ghana Programme is the Home Gardening Initiative.
Across the country, families are encouraged to grow vegetables at home and in their communities to reduce food expenditure, improve household nutrition, and enhance food availability.
The Feed Ghana Programme is firmly anchored on Irrigation for Wealth Creation.
The government is deliberately shifting agriculture from rain-fed dependence to irrigation-based farming to support year-round production and strengthen climate resilience.
Over the past months, processes have begun for the following interventions: the construction of 10 new small dams, the rehabilitation of 8 existing irrigation dams, and the construction of 250 solar-powered boreholes for farming communities and schools across the northern belt, Bono, and Ahafo regions.
In addition, major irrigation schemes, including Vea, Weta, Tanoso, Kpong, Ashaiman, and Aveyime, are undergoing rehabilitation, while new inland valleys covering over 1,300 hectares are being developed to expand rice production.
Mr Speaker, Under the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP), we have launched a $20 million Agro-Input Distribution Project to strengthen food and nutrition security across the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone.
The project is being implemented in 12 districts across six regions with a target of 50,000 farming households, including 30,000 women and youth.
It will support the production of key staples: maize, rice, soybeans, cowpeas, and groundnuts, while promoting year-round vegetable cultivation through solar-powered micro-irrigation schemes for farmer groups and selected schools.
The project is also supporting backyard and commercial poultry production, as well as the distribution of fertiliser and certified seeds to participating districts.
This will help strengthen the poultry value chain.
We are working to fulfil the promise of establishing Farmer Services Centres across the country to modernise agriculture.
Procurement processes are underway for a total of 660 tractors, 400 combine harvesters and more than 4,000 agricultural machines and implements.
The first 11 centres to be constructed this year will provide affordable access to land preparation, harvesting, storage, input supply, extension services, and equipment leasing, especially for smallholder farmers.
Mr Speaker, Agricultural extension remains the backbone of productivity, and to address the current gap between farmers and extension officers, 540 motorbikes are being procured to improve extension coverage.
150 of the bikes have already been distributed.
We are employing 400 Feed Ghana District Coordinators nationwide, while 10,000 young Ghanaians are being enrolled under a four-year National Service Agripreneur Programme, with annual absorption into permanent service.
So far, 3,000 youth have been posted by the National Service Authority under the Agripreneur Programme.
This intervention is strengthening frontline service delivery and creating employment opportunities for young people.
We are also placing farmer cooperatives at the centre of our agricultural transformation plan.
As of October 2025, 70,000 Community Commodity-Focused Farmer Cooperatives had been established nationwide.
They are serving as platforms for access to inputs, mechanisation, extension services, climate advisories, aggregation, and fair market negotiation.
The Government is actively linking farmers to agro-industrial investments to stabilise prices, create jobs, and accelerate Ghana’s journey towards food security.
A major highlight of this effort is a €154 million Italy–Ghana irrigated commercial farming project to establish a 10,000-hectare irrigated model farm to produce rice, maize, soya, and tomatoes.
All produce from this project will be sold locally.
This intervention is strategically designed to fast-track progress towards food security, ensure a reliable supply of raw materials for agro-processing, and reduce Ghana’s dependence on food imports.
Other key initiatives under the value-addition and agro-industrialisation drive include rice processing facilities in the Upper East Region, poultry feed production facilities in the Ashanti Region, and cashew and onion processing facilities in the Bono East Region.
In addition, a 40-tonne-per-day soya processing plant is being established in Northern Ghana to support soybean farmers and reduce feed costs.
The shea industry is also being revived through secured export contracts and measures to protect local raw material supplies.
Mr Speaker, To reduce Ghana’s $300 to $400 million annual poultry import bill, the government has launched a comprehensive Poultry Farm-to-Table Project.
These comprise 50 Anchor or Commercial Farmers producing 4 million birds, 500 SMEs producing 3 million birds, and a small-scale (Nkoko Nketenkete) backyard poultry Programme, targeting 3 million birds nationwide, with emphasis on women and youth.
The Nkoko Nketenkete Programme is underway.
The target is to reach 60,000 households.
Even before the launch, 720,000 birds were distributed during the pilot phase to 13,000 farmers in 12 districts.
A poultry processing factory is under construction in Bechem to support expected production growth.
Mr Speaker, education remains pivotal to our national transformation agenda.
In this regard, the year 2025 was both eventful and momentous for Ghana’s education sector.
I am pleased to report that all flagship initiatives and commitments contained in our Reset Manifesto were faithfully honoured during the year under review.
The No-Fees-Stress Initiative was successfully launched in Koforidua and has benefited over 152,698 duly validated first-year students in public tertiary institutions.
The number of beneficiaries is projected to exceed 220,000 first-year students in the 2026 academic year.
In collaboration with the Student Loan Trust Fund, law students in Ghana can now access the student loan scheme to pursue legal education.
The Free Tertiary Education Policy for Persons with Disabilities has also been launched and is now fully benefiting all eligible persons with disabilities enrolled in our tertiary institutions nationwide.
The 2025 academic year saw a stable, uninterrupted supply of quality food to all schools under the Free Senior High School Programme.
Mr Speaker, To further deepen coordination, accountability, and effectiveness in the education sector, this honourable house passed several important pieces of legislation in 2025.
The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Bill, 2025, 2.
The Ghana Scholarship Authority Bill, 2025, 3.
The Change of Universities’ Names Bills, 2025, 4.
The University for Development Studies Bill, 2025, and 5.
The Ghana Education Trust Fund Bill, 2025.
To enhance private-sector participation in the tertiary education sector, new legislation will be introduced to ease regulatory bottlenecks and remove the requirement to charter, making it optional.
Mr Speaker, Basic education remains the critical entry point into our education system.
It is at this level that children acquire foundational literacy, numeracy, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills upon which all future learning depends.
The government is, therefore, undertaking a major policy shift to rebalance our education investments in favour of basic education.
As part of this shift, the Standards-Based Curriculum from Kindergarten to Primary Six is currently under review to incorporate robotics, coding, and the responsible integration of generative artificial intelligence.
Additionally, as part of the ongoing curriculum review, artificial intelligence education will be introduced in an age-appropriate and developmentally sensitive manner, with a strong emphasis on ethical use, digital responsibility, critical thinking, and human values.
Mr Speaker, In response to the persisting challenge of schools under trees, the Government has programmed a bold and decisive intervention for the 2026 financial year.
This includes the construction of 200 kindergarten blocks, 200 primary school blocks, and 200 junior high school blocks nationwide.
I am further pleased to inform this Honourable House that the Government has fully cleared all outstanding Capitation Grant arrears owed to public basic schools, as well as all outstanding BECE registration subsidies due to the West African Examinations Council for previous academic years.
Mr Speaker, education for learners with special needs is not only a moral right but also a sound, pragmatic investment that promotes equity and strengthens social cohesion.
In recognition of this, the amended GETFund Act has established a dedicated, sustainable funding framework to implement Free Education for learners with special needs, beginning in the 2026 academic year.
The government has also increased the daily feeding grant for students in public Special Schools from GHS 8.00 to GHS 15.00 for the 2025/2026 academic year.
This significant increment reflects our resolve to address the unique nutritional and health needs of learners with disabilities.
In addition, Mr Speaker, we will construct a modern, state-of-the-art Special Needs School in Ho in the Volta Region, and rehabilitate and upgrade the existing Special Needs School in Akropong, Akuapem.
In fulfilment of our pledge to provide free sanitary pads to schoolgirls as part of efforts to improve menstrual hygiene and reduce absenteeism among female learners, a total of 12.2 million packs of sanitary pads were distributed to girls in public schools across the country in 2025.
We allocated GHS 292.4 million in the 2026 Budget to sustain this initiative.
This commitment aims to remove gender-specific barriers to education and ensure that no girl’s education is interrupted due to challenges related to menstrual hygiene.
Mr Speaker, as part of efforts to decongest Senior High Schools, increase access and ensure parity in educational opportunities, the government will convert and upgrade 30 Category C schools to Category B, and 10 Category B schools to Category A. In addition, facilities in existing Category A schools will be upgraded and expanded.
Mr Speaker, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) remain a critical pillar of our strategy to address youth unemployment and accelerate skills development.
The government will construct six Regional TVET Centres of Excellence across the country to equip young people with practical, industry-relevant skills aligned with the demands of the evolving labour market.
There is also an ongoing review of the national curriculum to align with the OECD Future of Education and Skills framework.
This will make TVET education more adaptive and resilient.
Mr Speaker, to expand access to higher education, support balanced regional growth, and meet the rising demand for quality tertiary education, we have entered international partnerships to establish two public universities—one in Kintampo, Bono East Region, and another in Jasikan, Oti Region.
A grant has also been secured from China to establish a new public university in Damongo, enhancing access to tertiary education in underserved areas.
Mr Speaker, Technical Universities play a critical role in closing skills gaps and reducing youth unemployment by delivering high-quality, industry-aligned, and practice-oriented training within a broader policy framework that stimulates labour demand.
In this regard, the Government will establish three (3) new Technical Universities to strengthen skills development, enhance innovation, and support national industrialisation efforts.
The teacher’s housing initiative is a joint effort involving the District Assemblies’ common fund, GETfund, GNAT, and GESOPS to build 50,000 housing units for teachers.
This partnership demonstrates our collective dedication to enhancing teachers’ living conditions, boosting retention—especially in rural and remote areas—and ensuring educators can live, work, and retire with dignity and security.
Mr Speaker, by prioritising equitable access and expanding infrastructure, we are investing in human capital and laying the foundation for a Ghana where every child can learn, grow, and succeed.
Mr Speaker, by January 2025, Ghana’s health system was under severe strain.
Ageing and deteriorating equipment, stalled hospital projects, amounting to GHS 15 billion in liabilities, and growing workforce pressures had weakened service delivery.
Over the past year, donor support declined sharply from 19% of total health spending three years ago to just 2.2% today, creating an annual financing gap of more than GHS 2.4 billion.
The withdrawal of support from programmes previously financed by partners such as USAID exposed vulnerabilities in essential supplies and services, particularly in remote and underserved communities.
Faced with these realities, my government chose to act decisively.
In 2026, direct government funding will account for about 72% of total health spending, up from 56.8% in 2023.
Core health allocations have risen to GHS 23.3 billion, and with National Health Insurance resources included, total health financing now stands at GHS 34.7 billion.
This reflects our clear commitment to domestic financing and health sovereignty.
At the same time, we have faced the growing burden of non-communicable diseases.
Today, NCDs account for over 40% of all deaths in Ghana and remain a major cause of household poverty.
To address this, the government established the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (MahamaCares), the first nationwide financing mechanism dedicated to chronic and non-communicable diseases.
Mr Speaker, the National Health Insurance Levy has been uncapped.
Claims payments are now timed, with facilities no longer waiting more than half a year for payment.
We have also finalised measures to increase provider tariffs by over 100% to reflect realistic costs.
As a result of the increased trust, NHIS enrolment has risen from 57% at the start of 2025 to 66% today.
Over the past two decades, Ghana’s health workforce density has risen from 16.6 per 10,000 people in 2005 to nearly 42 per 10,000 today, while public-sector health employment has doubled to approximately 200,000 workers.
Yet significant challenges remain.
At the beginning of 2025, 103,000 trained health workers were still awaiting placement, employment, or enrolment on the payroll.
Over the past year, 13,500 nurses and midwives, along with hundreds of doctors and pharmacists, were absorbed into the public payroll.
Nursing trainee allowances have been regularised, application fees reduced, and the no-fee stress initiative introduced to ease access to training.
Service conditions are being implemented to boost morale and retention.
Looking ahead, the government will expand recruitment and take necessary actions to add more health workers to the payroll.
We will correct the maldistribution of health workers through targeted incentives for underserved areas.
Let me use this opportunity to appeal to our gallant health workers to accept postings to our underserved areas, seeing it as a call to national duty, while we work to ensure they have an enabling environment.
Mr Speaker, we will also scale up specialist and advanced nursing training to match the country’s changing disease burden.
New post-basic nursing programmes in Cardiology, Nephrology, Endocrinology, and Oncology Nursing will be introduced this year, while two existing ones – Emergency and Critical Care – will be scaled up.
At least 30 nursing training institutions will transition to a competency-based degree curriculum, supported by new scholarship opportunities for PhD-level training for nurses and allied health professionals.
Mr Speaker, on health infrastructure, my government remains firm in its commitment not to abandon unfinished projects.
We will continue to retool facilities, strengthen emergency and disease surveillance systems, and ensure that health infrastructure is properly aligned with staffing, equipment, and financing.
In the 2026 Budget, provision has been made to commence Regional Hospitals in the Oti, Savannah, and Western North Regions, expanding access to quality care.
Aligned with the RESET Agenda, we are making strategic investments in local pharmaceutical and vaccine production.
The government has allocated USD 50 million in seed funding to the National Vaccine Institute.
In 2025, a local manufacturer secured market authorisation for a snake venom antiserum produced in Ghana.
We are also finalising steps to implement an Advanced Market Commitment to prioritise locally manufactured vaccines, sera, and pharmaceuticals in public procurement.
Production of the Tetanus-Diphtheria vaccine is expected to commence this year through a partnership with an Indonesian pharmaceutical firm.
Disease control remains a priority in our country.
Immunisation financing has been strengthened.
In 2025, the vaccine budget for children and pregnant women increased by 46%, exceeding GHS 171 million, enabling Ghana to fully and promptly finance its vaccines and reduce the risk of preventable outbreaks.
In 2025, we also introduced the HPV vaccine to protect girls and women against cervical cancer.
Ghana’s HIV prevalence is estimated at 1.6%.
There are about 350,000 people living with HIV/AIDS.
Although prevalence is low, some population segments and regions have significantly higher incidence than the national average.
The Ghana AIDS Commission has been tasked with ensuring the availability of testing and antiretroviral treatment.
This year, my government will fully roll out a Free Primary Health Care programme, removing cost barriers at the primary level where most health needs are met, while strengthening prevention, screening, and health promotion, especially for non-communicable diseases.
The Ghana Medical Trust Fund will be scaled up, and access to advanced cardiac care, including cardiac catheterisation services at Tamale Teaching Hospital, Korlebu Teaching Hospital and Komfo Anokye Hospital, will be expanded to reduce overseas referrals and position Ghana as a centre for specialised care in the sub-region, in line with our Medical Tourism agenda.
The Ministry of Health is expected to issue guidelines to eliminate the unacceptable “no-bed” syndrome observed in some of our health facilities.
Patients facing medical emergencies must be received and given help, even under makeshift conditions.
Government will expand capacity by implementing the Ridge Hospital phase II, completing the Police Hospital project and the La General Hospital.
In the Ashanti region, the completion of the Sewua Hospital, the Aferi Military Hospital and the KATH Maternal and Children’s Block is on course.
Mr Speaker, we remain on course to build a stronger, more resilient, and more self-reliant health system for all Ghanaians.
In the road sector, we inherited a burden of significant financial obligations and structural pressures accumulated over the years.
As of December 2024, outstanding payments on road projects financed through the Consolidated Fund stood at GHS 21 billion.
These were certified works executed by contractors across the country for which payment had not been made.
In addition, indebtedness to contractors lodged with the Ghana Road Fund Secretariat and awaiting payment totaled GHS 5.43 billion.
This figure excludes accruing interest charges, which continue to compound the State’s financial exposure.
Beyond these arrears, we inherited contractual commitments totalling more than GHS 104 billion.
These commitments represent signed contracts for road projects at various stages of execution - many without corresponding secured funding to guarantee timely completion.
Mr Speaker, by the end of 2025, the ministries of finance and roads had cleared arrears amounting to GHS 10 billion owed to road contractors, and they are steadily continuing to reduce sector debts.
The Big Push Infrastructure Programme is my vision for a national infrastructure drive to restore critical roads, open economic corridors, create jobs, and reduce the cost of doing business.
Work has started on 50 road projects spanning 1,144 km under the Big Push initiative.
The total estimated cost for these projects is GHS 50 billion.
Meanwhile, government is also completing 23 projects awarded by the previous administration that were underfunded.
These projects cover 573 km and are estimated to cost GHS 15 billion.
Across all 16 regions, 73 projects are advancing, with significant, visible progress expected by year-end.
Some of the critical projects currently ongoing include: 1.
Tepa-Mabang-Goaso 2.
Kumasi by-pass road 3.
Suame Interchange and local roads 4.
Sunyani Outer Ring Road 5.
Sampa-Jinijini Road 6.
Techiman-Nkonsia-Wenchi 7.
Dualization of Winneba-Cape Coast Road 8.
Kwahu Tafo-Adawso Road 9.
Dodowa-Afienya-Dawhenya Road 10.
Gbintiri-Nakpanduri Road 11.
Tamale Outer Ring Road 12.
Wenchi-Sawla Road 13.
Sawla-Wa Road 14.
Bole-Chache and Bole Town Roads 15.
Navrongo-Tumu Road 16.
Tumu-Han-Lawra Road 17.
Atimpoku-Ho Road 18.
Ho -Denu Road 19.
Dualization of Accra-Aflao Road Phase I 20.
Dualization of Cape Coast-Takoradi Road 21.
Dadieso Akontombra Road Also, feeder roads like: 1.
Akosombo-Gyakiti-Kudikope 2.
Yeniam Junction-Sedorm 3.
Apeguso-Mpakadan 4.
Todome-Toh Kpalime-Dzemeni Indeed, there are many other roads, too numerous to mention.
As I said at the launch of the Big Push Programme, the whole of Ghana will be a construction site, and Ghanaians can testify that serious roadworks are underway across the country.
Mr Speaker, the Accra-Kumasi Expressway is a 198.7 km, six-lane, high-speed motorway designed to connect Ghana's two largest cities and is expected to reduce travel time to approximately 2.5 hours.
This new alignment, with eight interchanges, will be Ghana's first true expressway.
The government has established the Accra-Kumasi Expressway Limited, a subsidiary of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund, as the Concessionaire, mandated to design, finance, construct, operate, and maintain the Expressway and associated facilities, with the Ministry of Roads and Highways as the Contracting Authority.
Project delivery is structured as a long-term concession of up to 50 years.
The Accra–Kumasi Expressway Project will be Ghana’s first purpose-built expressway, with limited access points, higher speed limits, and modern safety infrastructure to reduce travel time and improve road safety.
Preparatory activities, including feasibility studies, detailed designs, and cost assessments, are underway.
This major road construction work aims to improve mobility, safety, and trade while connecting communities to markets and essential services.
Now to the Eastern Corridor Road.
We aim to complete all unfinished segments of that road by the end of 2027.
We will continue and complete the 27.7km Accra-Tema Motorway and Extension Project.
This includes reconstructing the Accra-Tema Motorway into a four-lane expressway with a three-lane service road in both directions, and interchanges at the Ashaiman under-bridge, Community 18, and Teshie Link.
It also involves remodelling the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange.
Construction works are ongoing, and progress is 32%.
Other important projects include the Kumasi Inner Ring Road, the Volivo Bridge over the Southern Volta River, the Dambai Bridge over the River Oti, and the Adawso Bridge across the Afram River at Adawso.