Economy on path of recovery following critical interventions - President - Economy on path of recovery following critical interventions

BOST, ICT and sanitation

On the matter of BOST and the sale of five million litres of off-spec products, President Akufo-Addo reiterated that even though investigations had been concluded by the security agencies and the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), a nine-member committee, under the chairmanship of Dr Lawrence Darkwah, the Head of the Petroleum Engineering Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), had been set up by the Minister of Energy.

“Among other functions, the committee is tasked with making recommendations to ensure that we put the era of contaminated and off-spec products behind us by tackling issues such as the integrity of the pipeline infrastructure, improving pipeline operations and maintenance, continuous training and skills upgrade of pipeline operators and implementing improved standard operating procedures, including the controlled evacuation and disposal of products under the direct supervision of the NPA,” he said.

On Information and Communications Technology (ICT), he said: “We want every Ghanaian to have access to good and affordable connectivity. Every Ghanaian everywhere must have access to voice and data connectivity. This is the imperative of our times.”

On sanitation, he said it was important to recognise that there were huge debts owed to the service providers which were hampering their ability to deliver the needed services in a timely and regular manner.

The government, he said, had taken measures to begin to settle those obligations to facilitate the evacuation and disposal of the heaps of refuse in the cities.

“It is my understanding that meetings have been held between the ministry, led by an experienced Minister, Mr Kofi Adda, and the service providers on this matter, and the evacuation of the refuse, which has already started on a modest scale, will be aggressively pursued to rid the cities of filth,” the President said.

Security and corruption

The President also touched on security issues and made reference to the activities of the Delta and the Invincible forces, associated with the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), as well as the horrendous murder of Captain Mahama Adams.

“What I have communicated clearly to the law enforcement agencies is that the best way of dealing with such incidents is to let the law take its course without any political interference. The young men have shown remorse and the legal process is working. I hope that we all learn the required lessons from these unfortunate incidents,” he said.

On dealing with corruption, he said the bill for the creation of the Office of the Special Prosecutor had been gazetted and is in Parliament, adding: “We all, in and out of Parliament, should take an interest and help with the rapid passage of a law that will serve us well.”

On Ghanaians living abroad, the President said the government knew from the examples of several countries what fruitful collaboration between their overseas nationals and their governments had brought to their national development and prosperity, saying: “My government intends to emulate them.”