President Akufo-Addo has owned up as the individual to be held responsible for all decisions taken by the Government he leads and has said there should be no ambiguity whatsoever about who the buck stops with in a constitutional administration.
“Under the Constitution, the Executive power of the State is vested in the President of the Republic. He or she is the executive. There’s no ambiguity about where the buck stops when it comes to responsibility for what happens in government. It stops with the President,” Nana Akufo-Addo said while delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament on Tuesday, February 27, 2024.
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He continued: There is no ambiguity about where the buck stops, when it comes to responsibility for what happens in the government. It stops with the President, he or she has ultimate responsibility. It would be an unwise.
“President that would pretend to have all the answers, and refuse the advice of his officials, but the fact remains that the President holds the executive power.
“The Cabinet, the Ministers of State all act in an advisory manner. Of course, a member of the government might take an idea, be it generated by the President or the official or a committee, and turn it into a huge success, and the honours would be claimed or shared where public perception falls. But, ultimately, the President is responsible, and, therefore, takes the credit or the blame for whatever happens in his or her government” President Akufo-Addo noted.
President Akufo-Addo announced that the Office of the Attorney General has saved the country roughly GHC10 trillion in judgment debts because the government decided to contest every single litigation against the country.
He announced the introduction of a “Performance Tracker” to make citizens of Ghana anywhere in the world able to monitor the performance of government by just the click of a button:
“The Performance Tracker will be formally launched in March, and I am offering it as the device which would help bring accountability into your hands. With the Performance Tracker, we can be sure that never again will pictures of an artist’s impression be offered as projects that have been executed.
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“I am able to recommend the Performance Tracker in the sure knowledge that the Akufo-Addo Government has done more in education in terms of student enrolment, teacher training and employment, provision of infrastructure, than any government; we have similarly done more in health, agriculture, security, roads, railways, tourism, digitalisation than any other Government. Thanks to the Performance Tracker, the President no longer has to go through lists, and I have the confidence to say that every performance indicator used shows we have done more in these seven (7) years than in any of the eight (8) years under the NDC”, Akufo-Addo added.
The President delivered SONA in accordance with Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution.
The Address which lasted for almost two hours gave an insight into various aspects of the country’s economy including the current financial standing, security, education, agriculture and health.
It also highlight government’s key policy directives for the year and told developments that have gone in the sectors of infrastructure with emphasis on communications and digitalization technology, roads and railways networks and the oil industry.
The Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, moved a motion for the debate on the SONA to be scheduled to today Wednesday, February 28, 2024.
Afenyo-Markin in moving the motion for adjournment noted: “We are ready to debate Mr. President’s message, considering the situation we find ourselves as a country, we are ready to debate this message now, however, Mr. Speakeras has been in place, members will want to prepare, I noticed the Minority Leader was plotting his note, I need to remind him that I have with me the 2014, 2013 and even the 2016’s State of the Nations Address and all of these were full of lamentations.
“if I was a debate he was preparing for, I want to remind him that I would face him with this optimism and remind him of the lamentations of 2013, 2014, 2014 and 2016”, Afenyo-Markin stated.
