\nKey industry leaders are demanding \nanswers from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on concrete steps \nthat the government will take to forestall peace and ensure a secure \nworking environment for businesses to thrive.
Ahead of this year\u2019s \nstate of the nation address on Thursday, some of the industry players \nare calling on the President to use that opportunity to assure the \nbusiness community that all security threats will be tackled head-on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking\n to the Daily Graphic in separate interviews yesterday, the Institute of\n Chartered Economists of Ghana (ICEG), Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL),\n the Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU), and the Ghana Union of Trade \nAssociation (GUTA), stressed that insecurity in the country had the \npotential to drive away external investors and affect economic \ndevelopment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They made references to the series of murder cases including the killing of an investigative journalist with Tiger Eye PI, Mr Ahmed Hussein-Suale<\/a>, the recent spate of kidnappings, as well as the violence that erupted during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election<\/a> and asked for swift measures to improve the security situation in the country to boost investor confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ICEG<\/p>\n\n\n\n The President \nof ICEG, Mr. Gideon Amissah, said there was a strong correlation between\n security and investor confidence for which reason the institute looked \nforward to seeing how the President would work towards a secured \ncountry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor us at ICEG, we want an assurance from President \nAkufo-Addo that the ordinary Ghanaian is safe when they go out of their \nhomes to work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that ICEG was looking forward \nto hearing how the government intended to take a strong stance against \nthe proliferation of small arms among members of the public, as well as \nvigilantism among political parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Amissah said the \ninstitute wanted to know how the government would strictly adhere to the\n Public Procurement Law, especially in 2020 when political activities \nand pressures from interest groups would peak and be committed to being \nwithin the budget and its fiscal targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also stressed that \nthe institute wanted answers from the President on the measures that \nwere being taken to make the cedi stronger against other currencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\n have not heard from the Economic Management Team on the short, medium \nto long-term measures that are being put in place to address the \ndepreciating cedi issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GFL<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the \nSecretary-General of GFL, Mr. Abraham Koomson, nothing meant so much to \nworkers than an assurance of improved security from the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He noted that the productivity of workers and businesses would be low if they could not trust their security was guaranteed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs\n workers, we need peace in the country to be able to work because if \nthere is an eruption of civil disobedience and breakdown of law and \norder, no one can report to work and this can affect businesses,\u201d he \nstressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe want to know how the perpetrators of the Ayawaso \nWest Wuogon violence in that by-election will be brought to book and how\n the Commission of Inquiry that has been set up by the President will \nfacilitate that process to ensure that all who will be caught in the net\n are prosecuted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said the federation also wanted an \nassurance from the President that partisan interest would be shelved to \nensure that there was peace in the 2020 polls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GUTA<\/p>\n\n\n\n For \nhis part, the President of GUTA, Dr. Joseph Obeng, said the association \nwanted the President to announce pragmatic measures that would assure \ntraders that their investments would not go down the drain because of \ninsecurity in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs traders, we do not take the \nsecurity of the country for granted because it is very important for our\n businesses. If there is war or conflict in this country, people will \nrun away but our businesses cannot run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSuppliers will no longer\n give us wares just the same way investors will not give us credit, we \nwant the President to tell us steps to prevent conflicts, especially in \nthe 2020 elections,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Obeng also said GUTA was \nconcerned about the depreciation of the cedi against other currencies \nand the high rate of duties saying that those two phenomena had taken a \nnegative toll on their businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, he called on \nPresident Akufo-Addo to make the government\u2019s position on foreigners who\n were engaged in the local retail sector known to the association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe\n law of the country does not allow foreigners to participate in the \ndomestic retail sector but if this law is not being enforced, GUTA finds\n it problematic, so we want the President to come clear on it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PUWU<\/p>\n\n\n\n While\n joining in the call for improved security in the country, the General \nSecretary of PUWU, Mr. Michael Adumatta Nyantakyi, called for policies \nthat would reduce utility tariffs for the \u201cordinary Ghanaian.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\n said the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and the Electricity Company\n of Ghana (ECG) provided essential services for citizens for which \nreason their operations must not be tampered with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GNAT<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\n Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has said it will expect \nPresident Nana Akufo Addo in the 2019 State Of the Nation\u2019s address \n(SONA) to state clearly the government\u2019s road map and strategies for \nending the double track senior high school (SHS) system to enhance \nquality education delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GNAT also wants the government to \nindicate how quality education at the basic schools can be achieved \nthrough a timely and adequate supply of educational resources, including\n school infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs teachers will be concerned about\n the improvement in the conditions of service for all workers including \nteachers, said Ms. Gifty Apanbil, Deputy General Secretary in charge of \nprofessional development at GNAT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe will also be expecting to \nhear from the government how all educational resources mobilised both \ninternally and externally can be channelled into financing public \neducation to ensure free, accessible, inclusive and quality public \neducation and also to ensure that education is not commercialised,\u201d she \nstated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For political tolerance and peace, Mrs Apanbil said GNAT \nwould expect the President to tell the public how the National \nCommission on Civic Education (NCCE) would be empowered to carry out its\n mandate to make citizens responsible for achieving peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen \nthere is no peace and no political tolerance, it will affect education. \nSo we want to have the assurance that the NCCE will be empowered to \neducate everybody on how to contribute towards peace so that our \neducational system is assured of continues growth,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GNAT,\n she said, would also want to know the permanent solution government \nwould provide to the perennial flooding in the three northern regions \nfollowing the opening of the Bagri Dam which affected education and \nagriculture in those regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNormally they consider the effect \nof the floods on the agriculture sector and forget that when those \nplaces are flooded the students and teachers are absent from school the \nwhole period that those areas are flooded and that accounts for the poor\n quality of education in that area. Government must tell us the \npermanent solution to address this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, she \nsaid, GNAT would look forward to knowing \u201chow the government will ensure\n liquidity so that business can thrive because when businesses thrive, \nthe educational system can also thrive as parents can take care of their\n children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ga Central<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE)\n of the Ga Central Municipal Assembly, Dr. Emmanuel Lamptey, said he \nbelieved that the President would use the occasion to rally for support \nfrom the public to achieve the government\u2019s numerous initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe\n President has asked us to be active citizens and not spectators, so I \nthink he would use the occasion to reiterate that point,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\n also mentioned that the government had described this year as an action\n year, focused on massive infrastructure development and believed that \nthe President would outline some of the major infrastructure ongoing as \nwell as those completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Lamptey said he expected the \nPresident to generally present an overview of the government\u2019s \nachievement over the past two years and projections towards the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FACT SHEET<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\n state of the nation address, also known as SONA, was first implemented \nunder the administration of the second President of the Fourth Republic \nof Ghana -The John Agyekum Kufuor Administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The national \nConstitution explicitly demands that the President should give a State \nof the Nation Address at the beginning and close of every parliamentary \nsession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Former President, John Agyekum Kufuor, was the first president to deliver the state of the nation address in Ghana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n credit: graphic.com.gh<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"