Feature by: Stephen Marfo Adu
I must admit, there is a lot to be done as a country. We are not accelerating as we would want in areas such as health infrastructure, education, finance, and other sectors of our economy. However, I’m yet to see the NDC present a reasonable policy that will enable us to develop these sectors of our economy within the shortest possible time.
People went on the streets to protest for various reasons; which, to me, are all valid. Indeed, the government has to step up its game, especially in the case of rebuilding the La General Hospital. But rest assured, the attempts being made by certain partisan actors (within the organizers of the demo) to downplay the government’s effort will not wash. Under this administration, we have seen the most ambitious investment ever made within the health sector: Agenda 111, where the government has tasked itself with building 111 hospitals in record time. Eighty-eight hospitals are expected to be completed and fully operational in 2024.
This is the first time an administration in this country has decided to make education at the secondary level free nationwide under the flagship program Free Senior High School (FSHS). It’s foreknown that a program like this will test the already existing high school infrastructure to its limit, and it’s worth acknowledging the plans the government has put in place to reduce/eliminate this pressure. The plans include building new senior high schools (10 of them being STEM-focused), TVET centers, and expanding classroom blocks and boarding houses in already existing high schools. Some of these high schools and TVET centers have already opened their doors, and the majority are near completion. There is more to be done, and it shall be done.
Since 2017, over 10,875 kilometers of new roads have been constructed, be it highways or inner-city roads, compared to the 503 kilometers of roads constructed between 2009 and 2016. This shows this administration’s commitment to expanding and improving our roads. Road accidents on the Accra-Kumasi road have reduced significantly due to the road expansion by the Nana Akufo-Addo-led administration.
There are many policies that have been implemented by this administration to make our lives easier, from the digitization of our healthcare and financial systems to industrialization, but there’s always more room for improvement. However, if there’s anything that history has taught us, it’s that the NPP is a party that gets things done. President Kuffuor’s achievements live on, and so will President Akufo-Addo’s legacy live on once he leaves office.
My advice to Ghanaian youth: you are fighting for valid reasons, and no one can tell you otherwise. Protesting for the cost of dialysis to be subsidized is a good cause, and so is protesting for the Tema motorway to be fixed. However, it’s necessary to call out the selfish NDC actors who want to piggyback off your agitations into government (The Jubilee House); they have nothing to offer you