The Arrogance Of Power You So Much Hate Will Be A Thing Of The Past – John Mahama To Ghanaians
“The arrogance of power that you so much abhor will be a thing of the past”, President John Dramani Mahama has assured Ghanaians.
According to the President, he will ensure his appointees commit to a code of conduct which binds them not to abuse their authority.
Giving what he termed as the true state of the nation, the President outlined various challenges and how he is going to solve them.
“I am sad to report that our state of the nation is not good. Our economy is in crisis and our people are suffering unprecedented hardships…When I decided to run for President again, I did so because of what I knew about the state of our country.
“I was aware that huge problems awaited me upon assumption of office but nothing could prepare anyone for the reality of the depth to which our economy and our governance had sunk. Our elders say that a frog’s true length can be ascertained only after it has died and how right they were. It is common knowledge that our economy is in dire straits.”
“After initial assessment of the books, we have discovered that our economic problems are much deeper than was previously known. We have inherited a country that is broken on many fronts. The profundities of the challenges confronting us are staggering. We are saddled with staggering debts and glaring signs of almost deliberate and in some cases reckless mismanagement of our resources.”
Touching on matters regarding youth development, roads, corruption among others, the President stated; “Youth unemployment has led to despair and frustration. The latest estmimates show that up to 2 million of young people are unemployed. This poses a major security risk for our country and requires urgent attention.
“To bring much needed focus to desperate and widely scattered youth employment programmes and to ensure stricter accountability in their implementation, I have set up the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment in furtherance to the promise I made in the campaign. This Ministry, that is the Ministry for Youth Development and Empowerment, is mandated to formulate, coordinate and monitor policies and programmes to promote youth development and empowerment in this country.”
On corruption, he said “we must end the purchase of State and public assets such as land and other immovable assets by members of the political class. Mr. Speaker, I pledge to fight corruption head-on by implementing Operation Recover All The Loot”.
“Ghanaians voted largely and overwhelmingly and endorsed the NDC because we demonstrated a strong commitment and abhorrence for corruption. We pledge to fight corruption and implement far-reaching reforms that will eventually achieve a sustainable zero tolerance policy against corruption”, he added.
With regard to the road sector, the President refuted claims by his predecessor, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, that his government constructed an unprecedented over 11000 km of new roads.
“…as of December, 2024, unpaid bills owed to contractors in the sector exceeded GHC 20 billion for work that had been carried out between 2018 and 2024. For instance, the Ghana Road Fund obtained a loan of 600 million cedis in March, 2018 to refinance outstanding debt and borrowed an additional GHC 1.2 billion from a syndication of banks in November, 2019.
“Alarmingly, upon assuming office, the Ghana Road Fund still had outstanding payment including some as low as GHC 2000 dating back to 2018. Current commitments for road projects that are unpaid currently stand at an astonishing GHC 105 billion.”
On how he plans to eradicate this problem, President Mahama emphasized that “despite these considerable challenges, this government remains steadfast in its commitment to prioritize vital infrastructure projects that address the pressing backlog of poor roads. Our strategy will be anchored in executing our flagship initiative under the Big Push programme. The Big Push will see major rehabilitations of many key roads in the feeder roads, urban roads and highway sectors”.
In his concluding remarks, the President accentuated that he will not tolerate any uncouth behavior from his appointees as they work together with him and the populace to reset Ghana.
“I have just unveiled the state of the nation as I came to meet it. I’ve also disclosed several measures that I intend to take to address the challenges we have inherited. Nonetheless, no matter how well intention our efforts to reset our economy are, they will not yield the desired outcome without the support of the people of Ghana and so, to my dear countrymen and women, you have clearly and unmistakably expressed your displeasure with the poor governance and corruption that has existed in the past.
“…the arrogance of power that you so much abhor will be a thing of the past. I will enforce and demand the highest standards of performance from those I have chosen to work with me to improve the circumstances of our country. I will publish a code of conduct that will be strictly made to abide by.”
Source: Ghmessenger.com
