ghananlpcommunity/ghana-gov-speeches-sentences huggingface dataset:
I heard for talking too much, the Paramount Chief of Dormah Traditional Council and a High Court Judge, Osagyefo Agyeman Badu II has been transferred from the Greater Accra to the Volta Region.
(Ghanaians are not angry enough).
Second example is: MIKE OCQUAYE CALLS FOR APPOINTMENTS AND REMOVAL OF JUDGES as published on myjoyinline.com on the 28 th of April 2022 where it was reported that Prof.
Aaron Michael Ocquaye, the former Speaker of Parliament, has called for reforms in the appointments and removal of Judges as provided for in the 1992 constitution to strengthen the country’s Judicial system.
Ocquaye said the case of Justice Amoah Sekyi gave the country the lesson that where the executive was bend on removing a Judge, it was easier to do so than meets the eye.
xxxx On the appointment of Council of States Members, he suggested the need to introduce institutional representation and not allow the President to choose his advisors because the 1992 Constitution gave the President too much power in the appointment of the members.
We need to adopt the recommendation of the Committee of experts which provided that ‘the Council of State shall aide and counsel the president, the Council of Ministers, Parliament and other organs of state in the performance of their functions under the constitution or under any other law (sec.
3.i))’, he said.
In pointing out all these matters, I am not oblivious of the very difficult tasks of interpreting our 1992 constitution amidst the several decisions and dicta of the Supreme Court.
But it is important that there be great reflection on the core issues and principles which should be the basis for decisions of the courts instead of the lesser considerations which tend to arouse suspicions, speculations and concerns in the body politic.
CONCLUSION In view of all this what matters mot is the realistic auditing and restructuring of the Judiciary and indeed all other governmental institutions because just as the cyanide of illegal mining galamsey has devastated our forest lands and poisoned our water bodies so also has the cyanide of Political Corruption poisoned our Governance Institutions.
Appointments to the Judiciary or any other governance institution must be made by thoroughly independent bodies based on nothing but merit and not on things like protocol, cronysm, ethnicity, or other improper considerations.
The governance institutions particularly the Judiciary must be realistically insulated against presidential and other political pressures.
Service conditions must be reasonably attractive and security of tenure of office must be enshrined.
The Executive Powers of the President and his functionaries must be drastically curtailed.
There must be real separation of parliament from the Executive branch.
The emphasis should be on good and sincere governance in the interest of the people and not on hollow over exaggerated notions of electoral conferment of power on any body or group of persons.
But no meaningful political reforms can be reasonably expected even under a regime change without sustaining the Political Renaissance which has started and is growing well in Ghana.
It is for this reason that I would like to acknowledge, encourage, and congratulate nationalists like Kwasi Pratt, Dr.
Arthur Kennedy of the USA, Dr.
Gyampoh of the University of Ghana, Prof.
Bokpin of the University of Ghana, Prof Agyeman -Duah of the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), recently Dr.
Asare-Baah rtd, formerly of the Political Science Department, KNUST., Kwame Pianim, Dr.
Nyaho-Nyaho Tamakloe, Kelvin Taylor of the USA (though he should desist from insults), Emmanuel Wilson Jnr.
The Chief Crusader Against Corruption in Ghana.
I don’t know most of these people I have mentioned personally but I have followed their works on social media, and I am impressed, however I hope that they will remain nationalistic no matter the regime in power.
I also wish to acknowledge some of the many Civil Society Organisations such as Ghana Centre for Democratic Development, Ghania Integrity Initiative, Citizen Ghana Movement, Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Parliamentary Network Africa, Penplusbytes, Media Foundation for West Africa, Send Ghana, One Ghana Movement, Centre for Democratic Development, Democracy Hub, Occupy Ghana, and Institute for Democratic Governance.
I regret I cannot recall all of them but nonetheless, none of them should feel excluded.
Chairman, invited guests, media friends, ladies, and gentlemen, permit me once more to show my appreciation to all of you, including the organisers for this platform and the hearing, God bless our homeland Ghana and lead us to the promised land.
US vice president Kamala Harris arrived in Accra, Ghana on Sunday afternoon to begin her nine-day trip to Africa.
Amidst drumming and dancing, she was welcomed by vice president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and other government officials.
Kamala Harris could not hide her excitement as she greeted the teeming crown at the Kotoka International Airport to welcome her.
Below is her address as she begins her three-day working visit to Ghana; On behalf of the president and our entire nation, we bring you greetings and we are looking forward to this trip and the very important relationship and friendship between the people of the United States and those who live on the continent of Africa.
I'm very excited about the future of Africa.
I'm very excited about the impact of the future of Africa on the rest of the world, including the United States of America.
When I look at what is happening on this continent and the fact that the median age is 19 years old and what that tells us about the growth of opportunity, of innovation, of possibilities, I see in all of that great opportunity, not only for the people of this continent but the people of the world.
Especially when we understand that by the year 2050, we believe one in four people on earth will be on the continent of Africa.
The partnership between this continent, its people and the people of the United States and reinforces the work that we will continue to do together.
Be that on addressing the climate crisis, to supply chains to our work together on international rules and norms.
In particular, on this trip, I intend to do work that is focused on increasing investments here on the continent and facilitating economic growth and opportunity 1.2s specifically in the areas of economic empowerment of women and girls.
1.5s Empowerment of youth.
Entrepreneurship, digital inclusion, and supporting the work that must be done to increase food security, including adaptation to the effects of the climate crisis.
I look forward to my meetings with President Nana Akufo-Addo, President Suluhu Samiya and President Hichilema.
We will build on the previous meetings I have had with each of them to strengthen democracy and good governance, promote peace and security, build on long-term economic growth, and strengthen our business ties.
I also look forward during this visit to meeting with entrepreneurs and artists and students and farmers to witness firsthand the extraordinary innovation and creativity that is occurring on this continent and inspiring the world.
And again, I'm so very excited to be here and I thank you all for the very warm welcome.
Indeed without the resolve, the commitment and the leadership of these personalities together with others.
This conducive working environment for the staff of the ministry would not have been achieved and how unfortunate it is that one of the main architects of the idea, the Late (Joshua Tcheremi) is not present to share in our joy.
Your excellency, over the years, the various ministries, departments and agencies in Ghana operated without any concerted national security strategy.
This brought about uncoordinated efforts in addressing issues of common concern.
Your excellency, to resolve this concern and following the directive that you gave to us, a multisectorial working group was established to draft a national security strategy and it is worth emphasizing that the national security strategy which would be launched today is the outcome of sleepless nights of the working group.
I am happy to announce that this document has been reviewed by all the relevant stakeholders, my internal and external security experts, who have ensured that the document met the international standards and fit for the purpose.
I'm particularly grateful for the willingness with which former security capols from both sides of our political divide display in helping us to produce this document.
I wish to use this opportunity to thank individual, former security ministers, former national security coordinators, civil society organisations, the academia and other individuals who have contributed immensely to the production of the national security strategy and above all, our thanks goes to the leadership of the parliament of Ghana, as well as members of the defense and interior committee of parliament for the interest that they showed in this project and the (pain sticking) efforts that they made to ensure that this document is as good as it has turned out to be.
Your Excellency, I want to stress that although Ghana continues to be horouded as a beacon of peace in Africa, we must not rest on our odds.
Evidently, the first that confronted us as a country decades ago have evolved faster and with greater intensity than anticipated and this your excellency underscored the need for the swift implementation of the national security strategy to decisively mitigate new and emerging threats and may I assure all Ghanaians that we pledge to respect the rule of law, fundamental human rights, and freedoms of all Ghanaians as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana but let me also caution that the respect of human rights can not, must not be compromised with strategic threats to national security and let us all agree that without a secure, without a safe environment in the country, we can not pursue development and for that matter government may not be able to improve living conditions of our people.
There must therefore be a balance of issues of National security and the respect of human rights.
Your excellency, due to the personal commitement that you devoted to the development of this document and the desire to see to it's full implementation, we found it most expedient for you to be present today to outdoor all important document and your excellency on behalf of the entire staff of the ministry of national security, I express my profounf gratitude to you for first providing all the support needed for creation of the national security strategy and the construction of a new (edifis) for the ministry and also your excellency for gracing this occasion.
We at the ministry of national security can only repay you for this gesture by working dilligently in line with the dictates of the national security strategy, to ensure that Ghana remains safe and secure and with due regard to the respect and dignity of the citizens that we serve.
I thank you for honouring our invitation to this Press Conference.
Read full text here:
Welcome Media Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Afternoon and welcome to the Ministry of Finance.
Today marks the 20 th Anniversary of the 9 th May Accra sports stadium disaster.
So shall we observe a minute silence.
May the souls of the departed rest in perfect peace.
And may the families left behind remain comforted in the Lord.
Thank you for welcoming us to your homes this Sunday and, the motherly day of all days, to discuss building our Nation.
Today is the first of many updates and dialogues on progress on key government programs and bread and butter concerns of Ghanaians.
I am grateful for the opportunity to engage with you personally.
Acknowledgement of #Fixtheeconomy Concerns Over the past few weeks, I have been following the healthy conversation that started following the #FixTheCountry , a social media campaign primarily initiated by the Youth.
I have met the representatives of the conveners to understand and explore collective solutions over what the conveners describe as “a failure on the part of successive governments to improve the lives of the citizenry”.
I acknowledge that these are challenging times for many of us, and we, like almost all the countries in the world, are living through rough weather.
A time that has put a burden on the necessities of lives and livelihoods never like before in recent history.
Unfortunately, these external shocks have heightened Ghana’s perennial problems, which we are committed to address.
In extraordinary times, you should expect exceptional leadership from your Government.
I truly believe we cannot ensure exceptional leadership without a collective effort.
So, I commend the Youth for calling on Government and leaders to be at their best.
This shows the patriotism of the Ghanaian Youth, echoing the President’s call to Be a Citizen, Not a Spectator .
You have elected us to solve the problems that face this country.
We will continue to work with you and other stakeholders to do just that.
Achievements on the economy in the first term.
Until we were hit by the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, we were on course to achieving the objective to stabilise and grow the economy, create jobs especially for the Youth, modernise, digitise and formalise the economy, provide social protection for the vulnerable and create a safe and secure environment for citizens and businesses to thrive.
As Government, we took the following measures, among others, to address the structural challenges of the economy: We implemented flagship initiatives such as 1 District 1 Factory, 1 Village 1 Dam, Planting for Food & Jobs, and IPEP in the Real Sector to accelerate economic activities and help create jobs; We introduced, restored, or enhanced social protection policies to support the vulnerable and address the pertinent issue of joblessness.
These interventions include the Free Senior High School Programme with over 1.2 million enrolments, the Zongo Development Fund Programme, School Feeding Programme with over 3.4 million beneficiaries, LEAP Programme with over 334,084 Households, Nations Builders Corps (NABCO) with 100,000 beneficiaries, allowances for Teacher Trainees for some 47,135 beneficiaries, and allowances for Nursing Trainees with some 50,825 beneficiaries.
Fortunately, we have been able to preserve jobs in the public sector inspite of the Covid-19 pandemic.
We acknowledge, that as a Nation we need to do more to ensure decent incomes for all Ghanaians.
However, even at these levels, compensation of public sector employees represents 52.4 percent of domestic revenue.
We implemented several digitalisation programmes to transform the economy, formalise the informal sector, and increase efficiency in public service delivery.
These initiatives include the issuance of over 15 million National ID Cards, the digital addressing system for over 7 million homes, mobile money payment interoperability system, the introduction of the paperless port system, automation of driver’s license and vehicle registration, renewal of NHIS registration, land records digitisation with block-chain technology, and automation of passport application; For the first time in Ghana’s history, we established two Social Partnership Programmes―one with Organised Labour and the Ghana Employers Association; the other with Faith-based Organisations (FBOs)—to provide a platform for a cohesive and trustful relationship between the partners on issues of national development; We took a financial sector on the brink of collapse, cleaned it to build a more robust financial ecosystem that is well capitalised, liquid, and solvent to fund our development.
By this initiative, we saved the hard earned savings of 4.6 million depositors, 81,700 investors and protected 3,000 direct jobs; We won the bid to host the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), positioning Ghana and Ghanaian businesses as the gateway partner and spearhead Ghana as a hub for the Africa region.
In addition to Google setting up its regional Artificial Intelligence centre in Accra, Twitter recently announced that it would put its Africa headquarters in Accra.
In addition, GIPC is working assiduously to attract the likes of Amazon to Ghana to deepen the tech entrepreneurial ecosystem for Ghanaian entrepreneurs.
After four years of implementing these prudent measures, the Ghanaian economy witnessed a turnaround.
Between 2017-2019, the economy grew by 7% on average in response to Government’s prudent management of the economy and implementation of government flagship programmes, being one of the highest and sustained growth periods.
As a result, you saw single-digit inflation of 7.9 percent, reduced fiscal deficits with three consecutive years of primary surpluses, relatively stable exchange rate, significant improvement in the current account with three successive years of trade surpluses, strong foreign exchange reserve buffers covering 4 months of import cover, and relatively low and sustained interest rates of about 13 percent (Benchmark 91-Day Treasury Bill).
As a result of the prudent policies, the economy continued to remain resilient in 2020, even at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Impact of Covid-19 on Lives and livelihoods in Ghana and around the world Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in our 64 years of nationhood, a Ghanaian Government had to tackle a severe health crisis and its attendant economic crisis.
The outbreak and the ensuing partial lockdown to contain the spread of the virus and protect lives brought socio-economic activities to a virtual halt, with the resultant loss of jobs, incomes, the collapse of businesses and loss of Government revenues.
The decisive and unparalleled measures we took to protect Ghanaians have come at a cost, as seen in the sudden relapse in the debt situation from 62.4% (2019) - 76.1% (2020).
However, taking a look as similar sudden rises in debt burdens of countries around the world over the same period may be indicative of the time we live in and where we are coming from (see below) South Africa 62.2% (2019) to 82.6% (2020), Rwanda 50,7% (2019) to 61.6% (2020), Zambia 91.9% (2019) to xxx (2020).
The United Kingdom UK 85.4% (2019) - 100.9% (2020) (will verify these figures again), Government response to Covid-19 and its economic impact From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, President Akufo-Addo laid out the five key objectives Government sought to achieve – (1) limit and stop the importation of the virus; contain its spread; provide adequate care for the sick; (4) limit the impact of the virus on social and economic life; (5) inspire the expansion of our domestic capability and deepen our self-reliance.
The President made it an utmost priority to protect Ghanaian lives above all else.
This is captured in his now world-famous quotation - “We know what to do to bring our economy back to life.
What we do not know how to do is to bring people back to life”.
On the fiscal front, the impact of the pandemic led to a downward revision of revenues by ¢13.4 billion (3.5% of GDP) and expenditures by an additional ¢11.8 billion (3.1% of GDP) with a combined fiscal impact of Ghs25.2 billion (6.5% of GDP).
As a result of the President's quick and decisive leadership, the Government came through for its citizens, responded swiftly and strongly even as tax collections were drying up.
As a result, the Government spent about ¢8,134 million (about 8.1% of Expenditures and 15.1% of Domestic Revenues) to preserve livelihoods.
The Government provided 1,827,581 and 917,142 cooked food packs to vulnerable and underprivileged persons within Accra and Kumasi.
In addition, in partnership with Faith-Based Organisations, Government also distributed dry food packages to about 470,000 families during the period of the partial lockdown in Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi.
The government fully covered the consumption of electricity for the over 1 million lifeline customers and subsidised 50 per cent of the consumption of all other customers for the period.
Over 10 million fellow Ghanaians benefited from free water supplied by Ghana Water Company Limited between April to December 2020.
As a result, the average monthly water supply of 9.24 million cubic metres increased by 43.21% to reach 13.23 million cubic metres.
Furthermore, 474 small towns and 1,143 rural communities benefited from the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA).
Under the ‘Operation Return Home’ Programme, the Government-assisted 10,025 Ghanaians whose circumstances had been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic to return home.
The government launched and operationalised the GH¢750 million Coronavirus Alleviation Programme - Business Support Scheme (CAP-BuSS) which mitigated the impact of the pandemic on several Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs).
At the end of April 2021, about GH¢412.88 million had been disbursed to support 277,511 businesses; 69% being female-owned.
The scheme has saved over 650,000 MSME jobs.
The BoG also supported with a reduction in the monetary policy rate by 150 basis points, reduction of capital adequacy ratio by 150 basis points, and reduction of primary reserve requirements by 200 basis points, among others.
In doing so, Government ensured that the worst possible impact of the pandemic was averted.
However, let me stress that to ensure a complete recovery, we need to invest more in the organisational capital of Ghanaian businesses.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we are also fixing this rising debt burden on Ghana!.
The debt stock as of end-December 2020 stood at a nominal figure of GH¢291,614 million, representing 76.1 percent of GDP compared to GH¢217,991 million, equivalent to 62.4 percent of GDP in 2019.
The total public debt has increased from GH¢122 billion (56.9% of GDP) in 2016 to GH¢ 291.6 billion (76.1% of GDP) at the end of December 2020.
Included in the debt stock and the debt/GDP ratio at the end of 2020 are the following non-recurrent burdens that we had to deal with as a matter of urgency: Fiscal Impact of COVID-19 – GH¢ 25.2 billion; Cost of Financial Sector Clean up – GH¢ 21 billion; Cost of Excess Capacity Charges paid to IPPs – GH¢ 12 billion; The impact of the reduction in growth from an average of 7% (2017-2019) to 0.4% in 2020.
If these expenditures are excluded, and the drop in GDP growth in 2020 primarily attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic is taken into account, the total stock of debt for 2020 would have been approximately GH¢ 238.9 billion, implying a debt to GDP ratio of 58.7%, which is below the ECOWAS threshold of 70%.
To put things into perspective: Between 2004 and 2008, Ghana’s debt stock increased by 30%.
Between 2008 and 2012, the debt stock increased by 269%.
Between 2012 and 2016, the increase in the debt stock was 243%.
Between 2016 and 2020, the increase in Ghana’s debt stock was 137% (This includes the cost of the banking sector clean-up, excess capacity charges and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic).
We have financed the construction seven (7) on going interchanges across the country, including those at Takoradi, Tamale, Tema, Obetsebi Lamptey and Pokuase to ease the traffic and enhance productivity.
Despite the impact of the pandemic, the rate of growth of the public debt has been lower under our Government than under previous administrations.
The rate of debt growth was lower despite massive investments in our flagship programmes such as free SHS, Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), NABCO, One District One Factory (1D1F), One Constituency One Ambulance, One Village One Dam (1V1D), restoration of teacher and nursing training allowances amongst others while maintaining relative macroeconomic and exchange rate stability.
Notwithstanding, as President Akufo-Addo said on February 21 st , 2017 and I quote, “I was not elected by the overwhelming majority of the Ghanaian people to complain or “compare”.
I was elected to get things done; I was elected to fix what is broken and my Government and I are determined to do just that”.
We commit to working with fellow Ghanaians to do just that!
Interventions to #Fixtheeconomy Concerns Ladies and Gentlemen, In the coming days, we will move swiftly to address some of the issues that the #Fixtheeconomy have raised.