President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says Ghanaians have every reason to be thankful to God for what he termed “modest successes” chalked by his government in 2019.
According to him, 1.2 million children now have unfettered access to Senior High School education, which he said is the highest enrolment in the country’s history.
He said Ghana’s healthcare system has been improved over the last year while there have been bumper harvest in the agric sector resulting in low prices of foodstuff prices on the market.
Again, the President said government has in the last year employed thousands of Ghanaians in various sectors of the economy and also ensured the security agencies were retooled to a considerable level to function properly.
In a televised Christmas message to Ghanaians on the eve of the yuletide, Nana Akufo Addo said “We’ve revived our healthcare system; we’ve had bumper harvest of foodstuff for two years in succession with food prices at their lowest in years”.
He continued, “Tens and tens of thousands of teachers, health workers, graduates and non-graduates alike have been given jobs. We have retooled and reequipped our police service and our armed forces to a considerable extent”.
The country’s economy, he indicated, was identified as one of the fastest growing economies in the world in 2019, adding Ghana is now the largest recipient of foreign direct investment in West Africa.
On the back of these, he said “We have good reason to be thankful to God for the modest successes we chalked over the course of 2019”.
“Painful but necessary” measures
Despite the successes, he said, the government also took some drastic measures which he described as “painful but necessary”, to sanitize and save the banking system.
He admitted the measures “has brought discomfort to many” household.
“Jobs of some 6500 workers were saved as a result instead of the 10,000 that could have been lost, in addition to the protection of funds of 4.6 million depositors”.
We’re not out of the woods yet
President Akufo-Addo said though progress have been made over the years, the country is not out of the danger zone yet, but stated that with hard work and determination, the country’s future will be secured.
“The country is by no means out of the woods yet,” he said.
According to him “there is a growing sense of confidence that with hard work and determination, Ghana will make it and collectively we will secure our futures”.
Meanwhile the President has appealed to Ghanaians to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ “safely and responsibly”.
“I wish all Ghanaians and people the world over a merry Christmas and prosperous new year,” Nana Akufo-Addo said.
By Stephen Kwabena Effah|3news.com|Ghana