Public reaction to President’s Address

A cross-section of people in Accra have expressed disappointment in the President’s State of the Nation Address, saying it failed to convince them on critical government strategies to reduce their current economic burden.

A group of taxi drivers at the Ridge Regional Hospital Taxi Rank, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Wednesday said although it was lengthy, it did not meet their aspirations.

They attributed the conviction to the fact that things were presently not working well compared to previous years and frequent fuel price increases were affecting their work.

They also said the President’s address failed to elaborate on the on-going biometric registration of the National Health Insurance Scheme.

They said the President was expected to tell Ghanaians how government was going to sustain the project and ensure that the processes did not hinder people from accessing quality health.

Contrary to the views of the drivers, some food venders at the hospital praised the government for the numerous achievements particularly in expanding access to health care through the Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound.

They said that had brought access to health care closer to the people as it help pregnant women to go for antenatal care without any stress.

The vendors appealed to the President to address all concerns of doctors and nurses regarding their salaries and allowances in order to keep them at work and prevent strikes that often led to further hardships on patients and sometimes ending in death.

They also appealed to Ghanaians to support the President and his ministers. Some nurses who agreed to speak to the GNA on grounds of anonymity urged the government to back its words with action to ensure the realisation of its visions for the health sector.