Govt sure of investments after election petition judgement

The government has expressed confidence that economic activities and investment will soar in the country with the resolution of the election petition.

A deputy minister of Information and Media Relations, Mr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, said the election petition resulted in uncertainty as many investors were holding on to their investment.

He was optimistic that the confidence of investors would be boosted in the economy after the Supreme Court had upheld the validity of President John Dramani Mahama's election in the 2012 presidential polls.

Briefing journalists at the Flagstaff House, Kanda in Accra yesterday, the deputy minister said with the completion of the election petition, the government had now focused on implementing its programmes and policies.

He also said the programmes would be geared towards creating jobs and improving the country's socio-economic development.

Mr Muhammed commended organised labour for agreeing to the 10 per cent increase in base pay and said the increase in the base pay had raised the base wage from GH¢ 4.84 to GH¢5.52.

He added that the government would pay arrears from January to August, 2013, and the new salaries would be paid this month.

The deputy minister indicated that President Mahama's directive to all metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) to embark on street-naming and house-numbering exercises within 18 months was on course. Consultations and feasibility studies on various projects had been completed and some of the cities and municipalities had started the exercise, he said.

According to Mr Muhammed, the government had earmarked a substantial amount of money for the exercise so the MMDCEs had no reason to shirk that responsibility. He said apart from making the cities and towns accessible, the exercise would also raise government revenue since the relevant revenue agencies would easily locate businesses in their respective areas.

The deputy minister also said the street-naming and house-numbering project would hasten health delivery because the ambulance services would easily locate houses and suburbs during emergencies.

By Musah Yahaya Jafaru/Daily Graphic/Ghana