Member of Parliament for Sagnarigu, Alhassan Bashir Fuseini, popularly known as Alhaji A.B.A Fuseini, has described Akufo-Addo’s 2023 State of the Nation Address (SONA) as the most hopeless and uninspiring address ever.
According to him, Ghanaians were expecting the president to give details of what he is doing about the excruciating pain Ghanaians are facing rather than remind them of what his government has done.
“…Honestly this is one of the most hopelessly, uninspiring speeches I have heard from a president on the State of the Nation Address to the citizen. At a crucial time like this when Ghanaians expect that at least a glimmer of hope will be provided for them, peruse the entire speech that the president read, where did he give hope? Can you point to me one place that he gave hope.
“...Admitting that we are in a crisis is a non-story. Everybody in Ghana, who doesn’t know we are in crisis? even foreigners they know we are in crisis, so it is not about coming to repeat to Ghanaians that the pain when the people are harbouring, you come and remind them about their pain. Ghanaians didn’t want the president to come and remind them of their pain, what are you doing about the pain? what have you done about the pain and going forward what is the remedy for the people?” he further said.
The State of the Nation Address is in accordance with Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which states that the President shall deliver a message on the SoNA to Parliament at the start of each session and before the dissolution of Parliament.
SONA is a constitutional obligation and yearly tradition where the Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces reports on the status of the country unveils the government’s agenda for the coming year and proposes to Parliament certain legislative measures.
Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana obliges Members of Parliament (MPs), the Speaker of Parliament and the Judiciary to receive the President’s SONA.
