Nana Addo to deliver State of the Nation address on Feb. 8

President Akufo-Addo during his first State of the Nation address in 2017

Thursday, February 8, 2018, has been confirmed as the day President Nana Akufo-Addo will present his second State of the Nation address to Parliament.

President Akufo-Addo’s address will be in accordance with Article 67 of the constitution.

The Majority Chief Whip, Kwasi Ameyaw Cheremeh, confirmed the date when he read the business statement for next week, and indicated that all was set for the President’s sessional address for this year.

He urged his fellow legislators “to be punctual for the event”, and indicated that they were to be in the chamber “latest by 9:15 AM as it may not be courteous for members to enter or exit the chamber after the president has entered.”

The day before, Parliament will also adjourn early “to enable the planning committee for the State of the Nation Address get the chamber ready for the event before Thursday, February 8, 2018.”

2017 State of the Nation

Notable in his 2017 presentation, President Akufo-Addo accused the  Mahama administration of increasing the country’s debt stock to about GHc122 billion from GHc9.5 billion in 2009.

The President further noted that, he inherited a $2.4 billion highly indebted power sector from the previous government.

Nana Addo spoke on several other sectors of the economy in his maiden address.

VIPI NEWS compared what President Akufo-Addo said in his address as against what his predecessor, John Dramani Mahama said during his last two State of the Nation Addresses in February 2016 and January 2017.

President Akufo-Addo held that, Ghana’s economy was in a dire state, revealing that, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, had left office with the country’s GDP rate of 3.6%, which was the lowest the country had recorded in the past 23 years.

Among some of the key targets met, the Akufo-Addo administration was able to roll out the Free Senior High School policy, restored both teacher and nurse trainee allowances and ensured the review of electricity tariffs.

Source: citifmonline.com