SoNA: WE WILL BREAK THE SHACKLES OF A GUGGISBERG’S COLONIAL ECONOMY – NANA AKUFO ADDO

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reiterated his commitment to fixing the numerous economic challenges that he argues has stifled the country’s growth for some years now.

Presenting his first State of the Nation’s Address to Parliament yesterday, President Akufo-Addo said his administration has inherited a heavily indebted economy from the erstwhile John Mahama government, worse than any other government has met in office in the history of Ghana, but remains committed to tackling the problems.

According to him, the NPP have people who have the needed experience in both public and private sectors to salvage Ghana’s dwindling economic fortunes.

“After eight years of the previous government, there is practically no fiscal space left. The persistent resolve to borrowing for any additional expenditure to meet the aspirations of our people is also not sustainable. We cannot continue this way without public finances”. I will not allow this economy to collapse under my watch, he added.

But, I was not elected by the overwhelming majority of the Ghanaian people to complain. 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’’, President Akufo-Addo assured.

He added that the key targets of the three-year extended credit facility programme the former government entered into with the IMF have been missed, thereby plunging the economy into more turmoil.

The President said he will chat a path to build a Ghana that is not dependent on charity; a Ghana that is able to look after its people through intelligent management of the resources with which it has been endowed.

“This is our path, and this path offers a new Ghana”, he said.

He then stated that it is time to break free from the shackles of Guggisberg’s Colonial Economy.

“This Ghana will be defined by integrity, sovereignty, a common ethos, discipline, and shared values. It is one where we aim to be masters of our own destiny, where we mobilize our own resources for the future, breaking the shackles of the “Guggisberg’s” colonial economy and a mind-set of dependency, bailouts and extraction. It is an economy where we look past commodities to position ourselves in a global marketplace. It is a country where we focus on trade, not aid, a hand-up, not a hand-out. It is a country with a strong private sector. It is a country that recognizes the connectedness of its people and economy to those of its neighbours”.

source:radiooneghana.com/Agyapong Michael