President John Dramani Mahama has served Parliament with a buffet of promises and projects some of which he expects to complete in his second term ‘by the grace of God’.
From power, to education, agriculture and other social infrastructure, President Mahama dazzled MPs with a State of the Nations address that painted a thoroughly optimistic picture of a working government.
On power, he said some 3,665 new megawatts will be added to the national grid by 2016 as Government looks to bring in almost every kind of power source to cure an irritating power crisis.
There will be solar, wind and coal power to be added to the traditional hydro and gas sources.
At SONA 2015
On education
School children will be getting 10,000 free sandals as part of a free progressive basic education policy.
Free SHS policy has been budgeted for the 2015 academic year, he told Parliament, while his main political rival Nana Addo watched silently as his flagship 2012 campaign policy was taken over for implementation.
With a budget of GH₵ 3billion for the health services sector, President Mahama announced a slew of health facility constructions he wants completed by 2017.
A key project will see a second Military hospital in Kumasi which will take 500 beds. With 15 new Polyclinics and 13 district hospitals earmarked for construction this year, the President promised to add 6,000 hospital beds by 2017.
A section of parliament at the 2015 State of the Nation address
On agriculture
He was happy to announce 50 million free seedlings to cocoa farmers to boost cocoa production, a project conceived while he paid a visit to a young cocoa farmer, Samuel Tobi. The visit least year was to mark his second anniversary in power.
According to the President, Government plans to reduce fish importation by 20%. To achieve this, he said Government will throw in a number of policies to help the industry thought by many to be ailing.
Fishermen will be getting 3,000 free outboard motors which he promised will be distributed on a non-partisan basis.
Government plans to build a refrigeration facility to store fish, as well as a fish processing factory in Elmina in the Central region. Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline|Edwin Appiah|[email protected]
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