PREZ NANA ADDO COMMENDED FOR DEVOLVING PRESIDENTIAL POWERS 29th Sept., 2019

Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has received special commendation from the Information Minister, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah for his unrelenting resolve and willingness to devolve powers vested in him by the country’s 1992 Constitution, regarding the appointment of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).
 

Information Minister, Hon. K. Oppong Nkrumah at the briefing

The Information Minister made the commendation in his address at a press briefing in the Upper East Regional capital of Bolgatanga on Sunday, as a prelude to the Regional Town Hall scheduled for Monday, September 30, 2019. He said the president wasn’t selfish with legal state power vested in him and was thus following through with his government’s pledge to ensure that MMDCEs were elected by the Ghanaian electorate through universal adult suffrage.

Hon. Oppong Nkrumah noted that, the successful passage of the Referendum to allow for the election of MMDCEs throughout the country will guarantee the full and direct participation by the local people in who becomes their leader and head of the local government entity known as the district or municipal assembly. In addition, it will bring governance closer to the people and also, boost participatory democracy. 

The Minister therefore made a passionate appeal to the media to use its various platforms in propagating the ideals of the impending Referendum scheduled to come off in December, 2019 as that will whip up public interest in this laudable move by government.

His address also touched on other sectors including health, agriculture, education and roads. On health for instance, Hon. Oppong Nkrumah reassured the nation that, with the successful arrival of the first batch of 48 pieces of ambulance in the country, government was making frantic efforts to bring in the remainder. It will be recalled that the Nana Addo-led administration had undertaken to procure 275 ambulances earmarked for distribution to each constituency across Ghana adding to other deliberate efforts to boost and enhance health services delivery especially, in rural Ghana.

Meanwhile responding to questions from journalists at the briefing, the Information Minister disclosed that government had mooted the idea of establishing a Tree Crops Board similar to the Cocoa Board, whose mandate among other objectives will be to look after the welfare of cashew farmers, shea nut pickers and the likes which were prevalent in the northern parts of Ghana. He added that, it would also be the Board’s duty to secure ready markets and fair cum profitable pricing deals for farmers involved in such business up north.

Still on agriculture, he observed that the Rearing for Food and Jobs programme adds further impetus to the country’s agric sector and aims to create more employment avenues for the masses who yearn to earn a living through farming and rearing-related activities. He said the intention was also to produce abundance of livestock through this programme and of course, the export of any excesses to gain good foreign exchange for the economy.

Focusing on the road network across the country, Hon. Oppong Nkrumah noted that while the previous government might have made some attempts to fix roads, most of the jobs were either poorly done or not followed through at all. The reason for this assertion he added was that, the issues of roads keep coming up whenever the President or his ministers go on field trips to touch base with the realities on the ground. Regardless of this, he hinted that there were some positive prospects as the government’s mid-year budget had set aside a dedicated fund to fix major road networks throughout the country while other funding sources will be brought on board later on.

Deputy Information Minister Hon. Pius Enam Hadzide who had joined his boss for the media briefing, described the New Patriotic Party [NPP] as a media friendly party citing the current Ghana Journalists Association’s national headquarters as a gift from the previous NPP administration and some vehicles also donated to the body to aid its administrative rounds. He also mentioned with pride the repeal of the criminal libel law as having happened under an NPP government in the recent past.

Hon. Hadzide stated that under the current dispensation, the government had put in place two pro-media programmes including a capacity building programme for journalists known as the Media Capacity Enhancement Programme and the coordinated mechanism for the safety of the media. He cautioned against sensational reportage regarding attacks on the media and called for fact-checking and validation before going public with publications. He explained that, there could be times a journalist could suffer assault for reasons other than his/her work as a journalist or as a result of something else very remote from media practice, but yet that often get reported as attacks on the media.

The Acting National Director of the Information Services Department [ISD], Mr. Charles Wereko, the Chief Director at the Ministry of Information and other directors at the ISD headquarters were among the entourage of the Information Minister and will partake in the Regional town hall meeting tomorrow. All 15 Municipal and District Assemblies in the Upper East Region are expected to make presentations of development projects and other interventions in their areas of jurisdiction.