Full Text: Akufo-Addo’s speech at 2018 media encounter

Welcome to the seat of the Presidency of our country, ladies and

gentlemen of the media, and I wish you all a happy New Year. The start
of a new year is the ideal time to take stock of the year that has just
ended, and look forward to the new one.

When we gathered here last July for my first interaction with the media,
I promised that I would endeavour for us to meet, at least twice a year,
to have a conversation about our nation, and how the government is
doing.

I believe this week meets the requirements of this promise, and has the
added advantage of marking the first anniversary of my becoming
President of our Republic. I do not intend to engage in self-adulation, or
self-flagellation, for that matter. I shall, therefore, not be assigning
grades or marks to myself or my government. An examinee does not
mark his or her own script. I leave that either to the self-serving
pronouncements of vainglorious politicians or to the apparent insights of
would-be wise persons of that amorphous community, civil society.

But, ladies and gentlemen, I am confident that we do, however, have a

good story to tell about many of the things that we have done, and are
doing, since assuming the reins of office a year ago, and I am going to
use this medium to highlight some of the most important of them.

I would like to start this conversation with the sad scenes that were
played out in many parts of the country, some weeks ago, in all the
regional capitals of our country.

Young people got up at dawn, and formed long queues in stadiums and
parks, in the hope of getting a job with the Ghana Immigration Service.
I know it is not a new story. Some eighty four thousand (84,000) people
applying for jobs, and over forty seven thousand (47,000) of them
meeting the minimum requirements as advertised, and the organisation
only looking for five hundred (500) people to hire.

Similar scenarios are being played out in all sectors of the public service.
The Ghana Revenue Authority also advertised for various categories of

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staff. Some fifty nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety one (59,991)
responded to the advertisement, out of which twenty thousand, one
hundred and seventy seven (20,177) met the requirements, and the
available vacancies are three hundred and fifty (350).

The recent recruitment exercise in the Ghana Armed Forces went along
similar lines. Some twenty six thousand, and thirty two (26,032) young
people applied to be enlisted into the Other Ranks; twenty one
thousand, and seventy three (21,073) of them qualified, and were
shortlisted. The number to be taken to start training later this month is
one thousand, eight hundred (1,800). The Police Service recruitment
exercise tells a similar story. Some one hundred and fifty eight
thousand, seven hundred and thirty four (158,734) young people
applied, and seventy nine thousand, nine hundred and nine (79,909) of
them met the requirements, and financial clearance has been given for
two thousand (2,000) of them to be taken into the service.

Once I started looking, I found similar stories all around. The grim story
of youth unemployment has been a tragic part of our lives for far too
long. When I became President, therefore, I knew my work was cut out.
We had to do things differently, if we were going to banish the spectre
of desperation, and restore hope to our youth.

We inherited an economy that was in distress, choked by debt, and with

macroeconomic fundamentals in disarray. We had to do things
differently, and those were my marching orders to all members of the
government.

We have rapidly to grow and expand the economy, and that can only
happen when the fundamentals are in place. The Economic Management
Team has risen to the challenge, and demonstrated that doing things
differently achieves positive results.

You would recall that, throughout the election campaign, we said part of
the reason for the difficulties with the economy was the sole sourcing of
procurement by government. Let me give you a few figures to illustrate
this point.

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In the year 2016, the Public Procurement Authority had six hundred and
twenty two (622) Sole Source Requests. Five hundred and ninety seven
(597) of that number, 98%, were approved, and there were 25
Rejections. There were five hundred and ninety two (592) Requests
made for Restricted Tenders, and five hundred and eighty seven (587)
(99.15%) were approved, and there were five (5) Rejections. A grand
total of zero savings was made.

In 2017, our first year in government, three hundred and ninety four
(394) Sole Sourcing Requests were made, out of which two hundred and
twenty three (223) (56.6%) were approved, and one hundred and
seventy one (171) (43.6%) were rejected. There were three hundred
and forty six (346) Requests for Restricted Tenders, and one hundred
and sixty seven (167) (48%) were approved, and one hundred and
seventy nine (179) (52%) were rejected. Now here is the interesting
part. The savings made over the year, as a result, amounted to
GH¢145.7 million; $146.2 million; €1.85 million and £22,400.

As my old mathematics teacher used to say, you cannot argue with

figures, and such figures surely provide the incentive to open up
government procurement.

Our economists set to work to sort out our macroeconomic

fundamentals, and to find imaginative ways to deal with the oppressive
debt situation. I am glad to report that the hard work on that front is
yielding positive results. The macroeconomic fundamentals have seen
improvements through improved fiscal and monetary discipline. Real
GDP growth has rebounded, recording a growth of 9.3% in the third
quarter of 2017, against the 3.5% figure for the same period of 2016.
Latest information indicates that inflation is at 11.8%, down from 15.6%
at the end of December 2016.

The debt situation has improved, with the annual average rate of debt
accumulation of 36% in recent years declining to about 13.6%, as at
September 2017. As a result, the public debt stock as a ratio of GDP is
68.3%, against the annual target of 71% for 2017, and end 2016 actual

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figure of 73.1%. Boring figures, I know, but believe me, they spell good
news for the economy.

Thanks to these boring figures, for the first time in a long while, we
have been able to give better budgetary support to the constitutionally
mandated institutions that hold government accountable, i.e. Auditor
General, Parliament, Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, Commission on
Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Economic and
Organised Crime Office (EOCO), and the Police. Thanks to the same
figures which mean improving macroeconomic fundamentals, we have
been able to transfer some GH¢3.1 billion of Tier 2 pension funds into
the custodial accounts of the pension schemes of the labour unions,
funds that have been outstanding for six years, and about which the
labour unions had been loudly complaining.

I am being urged to pay contractors. I am paying them. In 2017, nearly

GH¢1 billion (GOG – GH¢300,400,156.75; Road Fund-
GH¢664,091,476.88) of the GH¢1.6 billion owed road contractors was
cleared. In January this year, we have disbursed GH¢125 million out of
the remainder of GH¢600 million to the contractors. Additionally, we
have paid GH¢826 million of the GH¢1.2 billion loan contracted by the
previous administration, for which the Road Fund was used as collateral.
It is important to note that all these debts were accrued under the
previous administration. I will also point out that much of the statutory
arrears, that we met, have been cleared, that is debts to the NHIS, the
District Assembly Common fund, and the GETFund.

I might also point out that the salary arrears, that were paid to our
teachers last week, were accrued from 2013 to 2016. The regimen we
have in place now is to pay government bills as they come due, and not
accrue arrears. We are resisting the temptation to award contracts,
when funds are not available to pay for the certificates as they come up.
Those who conduct business with government will find that things are
being done differently. We have had to subject 11 billion cedis of
arrears, bequeathed to us in 2017, to a process of audit review and
validation. The audit service has certified payments to the tune of
GH¢5.5 billion, and rejected about GH¢5.7 billion cedis, representing a

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potential savings of 51% on these outstanding commitments. This
shows the validity of our criticism that so much of contracts awarded in
the Mahama era were inflated, and apparently, in some cases, non-
existent.

I have promised to protect the public purse, and I am doing just that.
Those who have done honest work, and at honest rates for the
government, will get paid and paid on time so their profits do not get
swallowed up in bank interests, and, thereby, threaten the collapse of
their businesses.

Ladies and gentlemen, clearing up the mess we met is only a small part
of the task we face.

We are creating the atmosphere for the private sector to grow quickly,
and to encourage our young people to look for opportunities in areas
other than the public sector. The solution to the unemployment crisis
lies with small and medium size enterprises that employ three, seven,
fifteen and fifty people, and with large-scale industrial enterprises that
employ people in their hundreds and thousands.

We are concentrating our efforts to grow the SME sector. Under the
National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan, with a seed fund of $10
million, five modules are being implemented, targeted at helping young
people who want to set up businesses. It is no secret that our private
sector often lacks the expertise that would enable it to operate
competitively. Practical help is being offered to SMEs by way of advisory
services, access to finance and access to market.

We have set ourselves five main priority areas, which we believe should
rapidly transform our country: agriculture, energy, industry, education
and health.

Reports indicate that the planting for food and jobs campaign, which
registered over two hundred thousand (200,000) farmers in the 2017
crop season, has been a big success. I am particularly excited about the
institutional sub–programmes, where twenty (20) Senior Technical High
Schools, National Service Scheme and the Prison Services were

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supported to cultivate their own farms. Under the Youth in Agriculture
programme of Planting for Food and Jobs, ten thousand (10,000) youth
were supported to cultivate eight hundred (800) hectares and ten
thousand, three hundred and twenty (10,320) hectares of rice and
maize, respectively.

Under the campaign, average yields of maize and rice have increased,
and our warehouses are filling up. Whilst the full picture of this success
is yet to emerge, it is noteworthy that many farmers have expressed
their satisfaction that, for the first time in a long while, a deliberate
government policy has helped to boost their harvest. We are doing
things differently, and we are getting results.

Ladies and gentlemen, I do not want anybody to get the idea that doing
things differently is easy, or popular, nor always gets immediate results.
We inherited a situation where illegal mining or galamsey had become a
serious menace to the very existence of our country. Our forests and
water bodies had become degraded, and the health of those engaged in
the activity and their communities were all at risk.

Let me state here again my gratitude to the media for the support they
are giving in the campaign we are undertaking against galamsey. This is
not a short term campaign, and we need everybody’s support to make a
success of it. As I have said a few times, since the Almighty blessed us
with precious minerals, there has always been and always will be mining
in our country. We are not against mining, but we cannot accept mining
in a manner that risks destroying our country. The reforestation
programme that we have started should help to regenerate our forest
cover and water bodies, and, hopefully, provide an attractive alternative
employment to galamsey. On this subject, all of us, and not just
government, have to do things differently.

In the energy sector, we have brought stability in the place of the erratic
power situation that we inherited. Adequate power supply is critical to
the operation and success of industry, especially small and medium
scale enterprises, which provide the bulk of employment. Not only is
regular supply important, but competitive rates of power are equally

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important. Tariff rates for non-residential users of electricity, which
embrace many SMEs, have been reduced by an average of 14% to
boost their competitiveness. Furthermore, an Industrial Development
Tariff has been approved for industry to enhance its competitiveness. A
new rate of US$6.50 per Million British Thermal Units (MMBtu), as
against the previous rate of US$8.84 per Million British Thermal Units
(MMBtu), has been established – a 26.5% reduction. In addition, a
review of 24 power purchase agreements, which has led to the
termination of 11 power deals and the rescheduling of 8 others, has
enabled us to save the government treasury about $7 billion in excess
capacity charges over a 13-year contract period. We also issued 7 year
and 10 year cedi-denominated bonds, totaling GH¢4.7 billion, which
have halved the $2.4 billion energy debt we inherited, and have helped
improve the liquidity of the banks, and the balance sheets of the SOEs in
the energy sector. This year, we will consolidate these gains, and ensure
the flow of regular, affordable power to support the economic
development of our country. Efficient management will always yield
positive results.

On the first working day of this year, I signed into law the three
Development Authority bills and the Zongo Development Fund bill. Once
the Zongo Development Fund and these development authorities are put
into place, and this is imminent, we shall see an acceleration in the pace
of developmental activity and the provision of essential social services to
communities around our country in a manner that answers to the real
needs of the people.

Work on the creation of new regions is progressing, and the

constitutionally sanctioned Commission of Enquiry, under the
chairmanship of a respected, retired senior Judge, Mr. Justice S.A
Brobbey, has started the public hearings. I encourage all to bring their
ideas to enrich the process. Some 38 new districts have been created
and, with it, the inevitable arguments about where the capitals should
be sited. I am hopeful that things will settle down quickly, and attention
given to the exciting development opportunities that are coming with
the new arrangements. Work is also progressing to make a reality our

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manifesto promise that we elect District, Municipal and Metropolitan
Chief Executives.

Having signed, on January 2, the Act for the establishment of the

Special Prosecutor, Act 959, I have appointed Mr Martin Amidu as the
first person to hold that position. I am well aware of the general sense
of anxiety in the country and the strong feeling that politicians tend to
get away with corrupt practices. A significant choice, though, that Mr
Amidu is, I do not expect that he will provide all the answers for dealing
with the phenomenon of corruption by public officials, but I do believe
that, at the least, the Office will help remove the fear of partisan
prosecution, and begin to put the fear of God in all public officials who
are intending to go down the path of corruption. Just in case it needs
reiterating, let me state again that current office holders are as likely to
be investigated and prosecuted by the Special Prosecutor, if a case is
made out against them, as past office holders. At all times, the rule of
law must be adhered to.

This leads me to how we are dealing with allegations of corruption

against current appointees. I have made it publicly known that anyone,
who has information about acts of corruption against any of my
appointees, should bring it forward, and should be prepared to back it
up with evidence. So far, every single act of alleged corruption labeled
against any member of my administration has been or is in the process
of being investigated by independent bodies, and the findings so far
made public. From the allegations against the Minister for Energy-
designate at his parliamentary confirmation hearings; to that against the
CEO of BOST; to those against the two deputy Chiefs of Staff; to the
claims of extortion against the Trade Minister; and to those against the
Minister for Special Development Initiatives; they have all been
investigated and no evidence has been adduced to suggest mildly the
perpetration of any act of corruption. However, some people appear
determined to stick to their politically-motivated view that there has
been corruption. This surely is not a helpful stance. It is important to
note that, in this my first year of office, two separate bi-partisan probes
in Parliament have been established to inquire into allegations of
corruption, as against zero in the Mahama years, despite the persistent
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calls by the then Minority. I have a greater interest in my appointees not
being corrupt than any critic could possibly have. Try me. Produce the
evidence to back the allegation, and see what the reaction will be. But, I
think it is also worth pointing out that we should be careful about the
new trend that appears to be emerging, whereby any allegation, no
matter how spurious, quickly gains the character of a “scandal” or “an
act of corruption”, even when it is shot down.

Ladies and gentlemen, I should not omit from this accounting the
disgraceful behaviour of some members of my party, the NPP, which has
been described as vigilantism. I believe there is no longer any argument
that criminal behavior wears no political colours, and is solely to be dealt
with by the police. I pray that we have seen the last of it. We are
continuously working to ensure that it does not recur, that we uphold
the rule of law.

Ladies and gentlemen, Free SHS is now a reality. The first batch of
students to be enrolled under the scheme has finished one term, and
gone back to school after the Christmas break. If it has taken the
introduction of Free SHS to encourage media and other commentators
to find the many problems that bedevil our schools, I simply take it as
one more reason to cheer the Free SHS.

We shall work systematically to solve the problems, not just of the

Senior High Schools, but from the Kindergartens to the Junior High
Schools as well. We shall put greater emphasis on technical, agricultural
and vocational training, and skills training in general. We have no choice
but to educate and train our workforce to match the needs of the
modern economy. This is only possible if we prioritize and accelerate the
development and application of Science, Technology and Innovation
(STI), and also develop the capacity to design and manufacture
machines, parts and tools for ourselves. The two Ministries of Education
and Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) are
working together to step up the development and application of
appropriate technologies to solve the variety of problems that confront
us at this stage of our country’s development. This is to be supported
with a national strategy to promote Science, Technology, Engineering

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and Mathematics (STEM) education throughout our educational system,
and stimulate the interest of our pupils and students, especially girls, in
Science, Technology and Innovation.

I am still working to achieve gender parity, or, at least, reach the

percentage promised in the NPP Manifesto. In the meantime, I wish to
encourage all to support the HeForShe Campaign to help us achieve
SDG Goal 5.

After a year in office, it would be fair to ask what frustrations and

regrets if any, that I have. My answer would be I wish we had been able
to do certain things much faster and the entire government machinery
moved more quickly, because, as I said, I am in a hurry. For those who
continue to be obsessed by the size of my government, let me, with due
deference to the chairperson of the Economic Management Team, my
brilliant Vice President, cite from his speech, two days ago, at Legon, at
the opening of the New Year School:

“The question that we should ask is how can you inherit a budget
deficit of 9.3% of GDP, proceed to reduce taxes, bring down
inflation, bring down interest rates, increase economic growth
(from 3.6% to 7.9%), increase your international reserves,
maintain relative exchange rate stability, reduce the debt to GDP
ratio and the rate of debt accumulation, pay almost half of arrears
inherited, stay current on obligations to statutory funds, restore
teacher and nursing training allowances, double the capitation
grant, implement free senior high school education and yet still be
able to reduce the fiscal deficit from 9.3% to an estimated 5.6% of
GDP? Quite simple, this is a remarkable achievement and this is
what we mean by competent economic management.”

It is that competence, coupled with integrity in the conduct of public

transactions, ensuring value-for-money, protecting the public purse, that
are going to bring the dream of a happy and prosperous Ghana, a
Ghana Beyond Aid, quickly within our grasp.

Thank you all for coming, and may God continue to bless us and our
homeland Ghana, and make her great and strong.

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