Seven million Ghanaians to enjoy potable water next year — President Mahama
President John Mahama has stated that seven million Ghanaians would enjoy potable water by the close of next year under a water expansion project.
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He explained that the government had already expanded water supply across the country by 77.5 million gallons of water a day and that was expected to rise by 107.7 million gallons by next year when all projects being worked on were completed.
Addressing supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Accra last Monday after filing his nomination forms to seek a second term in office, President Mahama said the water expansion project, being the largest expansion of water supply in the country, was expected to reach 85 per cent coverage by next year from the current 65 per cent.
IMF programme
Touching on the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the President said with two successful reviews of the programme by the IMF following the government’s home-grown policy, it was clear that the economy was turning around.
“We have had to take some quite tough decisions to achieve fiscal consolidation in the economy and bring down the deficit, tame inflation and reduce interest rates with prudent economic management and fiscal discipline,” he stated.
He reiterated his pledge to ensure fiscal discipline in the election year.
The government signed onto the ECF late last year to secure $940 million to help stabilise the economy. A former Finance Minister, Prof. Kwesi Botchway, led Ghana’s team to Washington for the negotiations.
Corruption
He said the government had waged a relentless war against corruption and waste in the public sector through various reforms and with deliberate investigations many loopholes had been plugged.
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He added that several prosecutions were ongoing and a number of individuals and companies were complying with an order to return monies wrongly paid to them.
President Mahama came up with a code of ethics governing the conduct of his appointees in a bid to fight corruption. In furtherance to that a National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) has been developed, which the government is implementing.
The President averred that the government was putting in place systems to rid the payroll of ghost names and a committee had been set up to implement the NACAP.
“We have been colour and party blind against persons who have been engaged in acts of corruption and this non-discriminatory attitude towards corruption would be sustained as long as I remain president,” President Mahama stated.
He observed that the government’s achievements together with its unity of purpose, sound leadership and hard work would continue to serve as a catalyst for Ghana’s transformational agenda.
“We in the NDC are prepared to prosecute the national agenda with a sense of purpose and humility which imposes a great responsibility on us as a party to work hard to maintain the unity and the strong bonds of our political family,” President Mahama said.
As the leader of the party he urged all to abide by the rules and respect the principles of fair play with a sense of decency to emerge a stronger force for victory in 2016.