I’ll create equal opportunities for all
President John Dramani Mahama has reiterated his commitment to growing the economy and creating equal opportunities for all Ghanaians, irrespective of their political, ethnic or religious backgrounds.
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"I want to reassure you and pledge to this country, my commitment to work to create a country that is prosperous with equal opportunities for all our citizens," he said at a press conference to mark his first anniversary in office at the Flagstaff House in Accra yesterday.
The press conference, held on the theme: "One Year of Responsible, Transparent and Accountable Governance," was attended by more than 80 journalists, including editors and hosts of radio and television programmes.
Also present at the press conference were: The Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur; the Chief of Staff, Mr Proper Douglas Bani; senior presidential advisors, ministers of state and other government appointees.
The President began the conference with an address on his stewardship last year, after which the journalists asked him questions about his stewardship and his plans for the remaining three years of his term in office.
The questions touched on the economy, energy, corruption and job creation.
Challenging year
President Mahama said last year was a challenging one and indicated that the government had been working to move the country onto a steady path. For instance, he said, the economic growth slowed down last year partly because many investors held on to their investment since they were not sure of the situation in the country after the verdict of the Supreme Court on the election petition. Besides, he added, many development partners delayed in releasing their support packages to Ghana.
The President also said with the hard work of the government and commitment of Ghanaians, the country had come out of the challenges.
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He indicated that he and members of his team would continue the hard work "to improve the living standards of Ghanaians" and added that "every Ghanaian deserves the best."
He stressed that he was re-energised to build a more stable country and transform the economy for all Ghanaians to get opportunities to earn more financially.
Job creation
President Mahama said the focus of his administration would be the creation of decent jobs for all Ghanaians. He announced that the government would launch the Youth Enterprises Entrepreneurial Programme with a GHc10 million facility to support young people to start their own businesses.
Energy generation
The President noted that the measures taken by the government had led to increased energy generation and the end of the load management in the country. He also said the government had already signed a memorandum of understanding with several independent power producers for the generation of electricity in Ghana.
He added that the expected gas production in the nation this year, which could be used for power generation, had encouraged the independent power producers to opt for Ghana.
According to President Mahama, the partnership with the independent power producers had put the government on course to increasing the country's installed capacity from the current 2,845 megawatts (MW) to 5,000 MW by 2016.
He said his aim was to achieve "reliable and predictable power supply" in the country to support businesses.
Commendation
President Mahama commended journalists for asking burning questions on behalf of all Ghanaians, and pledged to make himself available for more of such encounters.
"I wish to assure you that in the coming year I will make myself more available so that from time to time, we can interrogate issues of concern so that everybody can be on the same wavelength in terms of what is happening in the country," he said.