Akufo-Addo delivers 2022 SoNA
Government to complete Agenda 111 projects
The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has asked the president to begin to live his talk more than he does.
He explained that Ghanaians are tired of the plenty of talks that the president has been giving while in office and expect to see the realization of all the things he says.
“You mean more time talking and not doing; not actually acting on the talk. I don’t think Ghanaians are interested in talk,” he said.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP said this on the Friday, April 1, 2022, edition of Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV, and monitored by GhanaWeb, while giving his opening comments on the State of the Nation (SoNA) address by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The MP added that even in his district, he is not sure the government has been able to identify land that it intends to use for its much-touted Agenda 111 project.
“In my district, I don’t think they’ve even identified land for Agenda 111. So, Ghanaians want to see more action, not more talking,” he said.
Agenda 111 will ensure that hospitals are built in selected 111 districts across the country.
During the 2022 SoNA, the president spoke about a number of issues including the recently passed Electronic Transactions Levy (E-Levy), the qualification of Ghana to the 2022 World Cup, and issues surrounding coup scares in the country.
The hour-plus-long address also touched on an array of topics and subjects.
Here are highlights of the 2022 State of the Nation Address (SoNA) as delivered by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. These are made possible by GhanaWeb:
- Akufo-Addo salutes the management, technical and playing teams of the Black Stars, who, against the odds, beat the Super Eagles of Nigeria in Abuja to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
- Coronavirus: He said Ghana could not have been prepared for the catastrophe that hit it, adding that even the richest economies with the most sophisticated structures were unprepared
- He said his government took the decision to prioritize the saving of lives, after which they would get together to rebuild the economy. Nobody imagined the devastation would be so widespread and last so long
- Government undertaking the construction of 111 entities, which comprise standard 100-bed district hospitals for one hundred and one (101) districts without hospitals, with accommodation for doctors and nurses; six (6) new regional hospitals for each of the six (6) new regions; the rehabilitation of the Effia-Nkwanta Hospital in the Western Region; one (1) new regional hospital for the Western Region; and three (3) psychiatric hospitals for each of the three (3) zones of the country, i.e. North, Middle and Coastal
- The Agenda 111 Project will create some thirty-three thousand, nine hundred (33,900) jobs for construction workers, and, on completion, some thirty-four thousand, three hundred (34,300) jobs for health workers
- Akufo-Addo describes the Agenda 111 as an overly ambitious project but one that they are on course to completing
- Government provided nearly five million (5 million) households and over ten million (10 million) people with electricity and water subsidies at the time they were most needed. In all, data from the Ministry of Finance tells us that an amount of GH¢17.7 billion (or 4.6% of GDP) has been spent in containing the Coronavirus since 2020.
- Russia-Ukraine war has had a direct impact on lives in Ghana
- Government to start the construction of five (5) technical colleges will begin in various parts of the country in the next few months. Three technical institutes will be upgraded to tertiary status. The initial phase for the construction of nine (9) TVET campuses will commence next month (April) in Bosomtwe, Akyem Awisa, Boako, Kenyasi, Patuda, Dambai, Larabanga, Guabuliga and Tolibri
- Creative Arts: The Creative Arts Senior High School, in Kwadaso, whose construction is currently seventy percent (70%) complete, will serve as a beacon for many young and talented people, seeking a fulfilling career in this field
- In 2021, Ghana recorded some six hundred and twenty-three thousand, five hundred and twenty-three (623,523) visitors, up from the three hundred and fifty-five thousand, one hundred and eight (355,108) visitors, the year before (2020), signifying a marked rebound of the country’s tourism sector
- Akufo-Addo said “the successes of the Programme for Planting for Food and Jobs have transformed the lives of many farmers around the country. I am glad to announce that the Tono Irrigation Dam has been fully rehabilitated, and is back to life and fully operational, and is serving the needs of many farmers in the areas around the dam”
- “Together with our counterparts in Cote d’Ivoire, we have addressed the inequalities in the international marketing system of cocoa by paying a Living Income Differential of four hundred United States dollars ($400) per tonne of cocoa to our farmers. This is a remarkable initiative that cushions the income of the Ghanaian cocoa farmer, the backbone of our economy”
- Age of ‘football age’ to come to an end as the Birth and Death Registry is to be digitized to allow for the synchronization of all details on people in the country
- President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said that through the 1D1F initiative, the made-in-Ghana label is being stamped on a wide range of products proudly manufactured in Ghana. Out of a total of two hundred and seventy-eight (278) 1D1F projects at various stages of implementation in all the sixteen (16) regions, one hundred and six (106) factories are currently operational, one hundred and forty-eight (148) are under construction, while twenty-four (24) projects are at mobilization stage
- The president commended the Ghana Police Service, stating that it is undergoing a great improvement and a change of image before our very eyes. He added that gradually, the police are bringing order to the roads, making sure that now, people know that the law is no respecter of persons or vehicle types.
View their Timepaths below:
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa is MP for North Tongu