Fruitful final year, my biggest wish — President Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that his biggest wish is to ensure that the last year of his tenure is fruitful.

“I want, at least, to be able to let the people see that I have done my very best right from the beginning up to the end,” he added.

President Akufo-Addo, who was speaking during a courtesy call on him to introduce the newly elected Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), Rt Rev. Dr Hilliard Dogbe, to him at the Jubilee House in Accra last Tuesday, said: “I think that the signs are becoming clearer, the rebounding of our economy is already going on.”

Inflation

Touching on the rate of inflation, President Akufo-Addo said: “The very higher rate of inflation we suffered last year is coming down automatically”.

Looking from the 50 per cent figure by the end of the year, he indicated that “we will be looking at inflation rate of 27 per cent.

President Akufo-Addo expressed the hope that the rate of inflation would be brought down to 15 per cent, saying “we love to bring it back to a single digit figure that was a feature of my first term.”

“The country will see a significant reduction in inflation between now and the end of this year.

We are going to have a bumper harvest.

A lot of food is being grown, especially in the northern part of the country and the measures that have been put in place will make sure that the food stays in Ghana,” he assured.

Explaining further, President Akufo-Addo said, historically what happened was that because of a relatively loose arrangement “we produce the food for others to come and take it away and from Burkina Faso to Nigeria and to Niger but this year we are going to be much more vigilant”.

The President added that everything would be done to ensure that food produced in the country stayed within to help reduce the cost of food.

Corruption

President Akufo-Addo debunked the notion that everybody who was elected into the Office of President was a thief, saying that assumption was unfortunate.

“There is an assumption in our country unfortunately, that the people who come into political office have done so in order to enrich themselves.

Some of us would have been better off in the private sector if it comes to the question of trying to make money,” he stressed.

“It is an assumption that we all have to work hard to try and dispel," he added.

The President said part of the assumption was also encouraging a disbelief in institutions of the state.

He said those institutions that had been set up such as the police and the various anti-corruption agencies were working in the interest of the country and not the government of the day.

President Akufo-Addo, therefore, stressed the need for all to find ways of bolstering the confidence of the people in those institutions to understand that they were working for the state of Ghana.

“Government comes and goes, there was the First Republic, Third Republic.

I have been a beneficiary of fair change of government.

We have done this at least for 30 years,” he explained.

Prayers

While asking for prayers from Christians, President Akufo-Addo said: “We are going to count very much on you”, and asked for prayers that would enable him and his government to do the right things for the people.

The President said the Christian Council and other ecumenical bodies were well established democrats and added that he had no doubt that its leadership religiously subscribed to its term limits.

He commended the past leader of the CCG for the stewardship and congratulated the new Chairman, Rt Rev. Dr Dogbe, on his election to the council.

The President was confident that the new chairman would discharge his duties accordingly and assured him of the maximum support of the government.