President ends difficult, challenging year
Two thousand and fiftheen was perhaps the busiest for the President since he was sworn into office in January 2013.
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Nagging problems, including a turbulent labour front and debilitating power crisis, engaged his attention. Yet he was able to steer the affairs of the state to achieve progress.
He also devoted the chunk of his time to international assignments, especially during his chairmanship of ECOWAS.
Domestic scene
Some of the focal points of the President’s domestic activities are politics, cabinet reshuffles, tackling labour agitations, infrastructure development and giving state awards.
On February 26, President Mahama delivered his State of the Nation address to Parliament. The address is a constitutional requirement.
Some of the highlights of the address were the agenda for transformation, education, health, social protection, sports, building a strong and resilient economy, securing the country’s bright, medium-term prospects, agribusiness, trade and industry.
Earlier in December, 28 Ghanaians and five foreigners were decorated with national awards at the 2015 national honours and awards day for their outstanding contributions in various fields of national development. The President was at hand to present the awards.
Infrastructure development
The need to invest in infrastructure for job creation and economic growth has been key on the President’s agenda for transformation over the year.
He toured parts of the country to have first-hand information on how some major infrastructure projects were being implemented.
Work was done to improve some critical roads, while areas such as water, shipping, education and health infrastructure also received some attention.
Effective partnerships across private, government and donor agencies played a role in building effective infrastructure that have the potential to reduce poverty and raise the living standards of the people.
Education
One of the major programmes in the education sector, was the Community Day Senior High School (SHS) programme.
The philosophy behind the programme is to bridge the gap in access between the underserved and urban areas.
In September, this year, President Mahama inaugurated the first of the 200 community day SHS projects at Ekumfi Otuam in the Central Region to coincide with the start of the Progressively Free Senior High School Programme.
Since then, two others have been inaugurated at Bamiankor in the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region and Nkwanta in the Nkwanta South District of the Volta Region. It means 197 schools are yet to be inaugurated.
Health
n the course of the year, some projects and programmes were undertaken in line with the President’s vision for the health sector.
In September, for instance, he inaugurated the National Medical Outreach Services at the Western Naval Command in Sekondi.
The outreach services, christened, “Onuado” (brotherly love) are aimed at sending healthcare services to the doorstep of the citizenry, especially those at the deprived communities in order to bridge the equity gap in healthcare delivery.
The services cover communities in 43 districts under the phase one. They include six districts each in the Western and Volta regions; three each in the Eastern, Greater Accra, Brong Ahafo and Ashanti; five in the Northern and four each in the Upper West and Upper East regions.
ICT
Information Communication Technology plays an important role in the knowledge economy, contributing to rapid technological progress and productivity growth.
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In May, President Mahama launched the E-Cabinet platform to allow Cabinet conduct business electronically. In the same month, he inaugurated the Eastern Corridor Fibre Optic Backbone Infrastructure project.
The US$38 million project funded by the Government of Denmark is meant to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural communities and promote ICT applications to support education, health delivery, e-government business development, agriculture development and national security, among others.
Roads
Roads constitute an integral part of the transport system. The road network of a country should be efficient in order to maximise economic and social benefits.
Within the year, a number of road projects were undertaken but perhaps, the biggest one, which saw the direct involvement of the President was the cocoa roads rehabilitation project.
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Politics
Political activity was centred mainly in the last quarter of the year.
As the ruling NDC prepared for congress to elect their presidential candidate for the 2016 election, President Mahama undertook a nationwide tour to encourage the party members to give him overwhelming endorsement.
He went unopposed and garnered over 95 per cent of the votes in the primary.
Difficulties
But, all was not rosy for the number one man of the land.
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Despite the progress made, the President faced some major challenges and disturbing developments.
Within the year, Ghana's public sector was seriously hit with labour unrests. Workers in the health and educational sectors, as well as others in the Judiciary, among others, laid down their tools over improved conditions of service. These however were resolved and refreshingly the year is ending with serenity on the labour front.
The biting power crisis remained another headache for the President.
In the State of the Nation Address, President Mahama declared his intention to fix the problem permanently when he stated, “I do not intend to manage the situation as has been done in the past, I intend to fix it. I owe it to the Ghanaian people. I, John Dramani Mahama, will fix this energy challenge.”
Well, the situation has improved but, the country is yet to get over the crisis completely.
It was a dark day for the Presidency on August 20 when a bus conveying members of the presidential press corps from Ho to Accra had an accident on the way, resulting in the death of the Ghanaian Times correspondent, Samuel Nuamah, while the others sustained various injuries.
In June, a 36-year-old man, Charles Antwi, wielding a gun, went to the church where the President worships with the intention of shooting and kill him.
He was jailed by a Circuit Court in Accra but an Accra Human Rights Court later quashed the jail term.
This was after the court held that the conviction was wrong in law. Antwi was said to be mentally unstable.
International activities
In May 2015, President Mahama ended his term as ECOWAS Chairman and was succeeded by Senegalese President, Macky Sall, at the 47th Summit of the regional bloc in Accra.
Mr Sall hailed President Mahama for the great leadership role he played at ECOWAS.
This year, he also oversaw successful presidential elections in Nigeria and Togo.
President Mahama presided over the signing ceremony of a peace treaty between President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's government of Mali and Tuareg separatist rebels the same mouth. Unfortunately, the Mali crisis has not ended.
In September, the President addressed the UN General Assembly where he spoke about a number of issues making local and international headlines.
He also undertook a number of international assignments, including the India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi and the China Africa Summit in South Africa.