|
| |
"The President presented palpable untruths, half-truths and embellished truths...It was a tragedy of a presentation"
Minority
Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu made the remark above while giving his
take on President John Mahama's State of the Nation Address on
Thursday, February 25, 2016.
Addressing the media after the
President’s three-hour address, the Minority leader said the President
refused to paint the true state of the nation.
According to him, “there
are three measures of assessing any State of the Nation Address. First
of all the president is obligated under Article 67 of our constitution
to present to the people of this country through the House of Parliament
the State of the Nation Address. Article 34(2) provides us with some
window about what to expect in a State of a Nation Address. So, that is
the first measure that one uses to assess the presentation...the second
one is the health of the economy. The third one: the right to work and
the right to employment. How many people are employed in this country?
Of course, we do know that employment is predicated on agriculture and
industry. What is the state of agriculture in this country? What is the
state of industry, especially the manufacturing industry, in this
country?"
Economy
On the economy,
the minority leader said "by every yardstick our country is not doing
well". This is contrary to President Mahama's assertion that the economy
is back on a sound footing.
“What is the state of the
economy? He pushed it to the background because one thought that
advancing the course of this country will be predicated on the economy:
solid economy by every yard stick, GDP growth rate, interest rates,
inflation, the strength of the currency" Hon Osei Kyei Mensa Bonsu added.
Roads
Speaking to roads and other developmental projects, the minority leader said the President decided to "dwell
on development occasioned in his view by infrastructural
development...he focused on road consturction on which he spent more
minutes than the total kilometres he had been able to add...under
President Mahama, he spent $1.9 billion to do only 740km of roads. That
is a shame"
|
| |
|
|
|
|
