…Over ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ Vision
Founder of Concerned Voters Movement (CVM), Razak Kojo Opoku, appears to be schooling the Dutch Ambassador, John Mahama and critics of the Nana Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) about the
‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ envisioned by the President, saying it “is a complete package aimed at propelling our country to become the beacon of Economic Liberty in Africa”.
Read excerpts of a full statement Razak issued over the weekend below:
Akufo-Addo’s Government has taken a lot of pragmatic steps and innovative solutions to usher Ghana into the full realization of Ghana Beyond Aid.
So far so good, NPP Government led by Akufo-Addo has been very good at ensuring that most of the programmes implemented serve as backbone to the achievement of Ghana Beyond Aid, and these include the following:
1. *Excellent Public Corporate Governance Systems*
Due to strict adherence to compliance and excellent public corporate governance systems instituted by President Akufo-Addo’s Government, it has been extremely difficult for appointees to amass wealth, misapply and misappropriate public funds and undermine procurement procedures.
The excellent public corporate governance systems under the NPP Government easily expose appointees, and immediately necessary actions have been taken by President Akufo-Addo to deal with such cases.
In spite of the empty noise by the opposition on issues of corruption, they have been unable to substantiate their corrupt allegations against the NPP Government.
The excellent public corporate governance system under the NPP Government has seriously protected the public purse from abuse.
2. *Control of Wastage of Resources*
The setting up of the Office of Special Prosecutor by President Akufo-Addo aimed at dealing with politically related corrupt cases and wastage of resources by Public Office Holders.
Even though the public is dissatisfied with the performance of the Special Prosecutor so far, alot of investigations are underway and very soon corrupt appointees of the previous administration would be dealt with in accordance with the law.
3. *Auditing of Government Contracts*
The NPP’s Government under President Akufo-Addo has taken Auditing of Government Contracts very seriously to ensure that there is always Value for Money unlike John Mahama’s administration.
Pre Audit, Post Audit and Contract Compliance Audit of Government Contracts have been very successful under President Akufo-Addo’s Government.
The Contracts Auditing Model of Akufo-Addo’s Government recently exposed the lapses in the PDS Contract and necessary actions are being taken to address the matter.
4. *Leveraging Technology to Achieve Economic Transformation*
President Akufo-Addo’s Government is committed to building a vibrant digital economy through technology.
Under this initiative, the Ghanaian economy is on course to become a world class digital economy with robust and accurate Data for planning, integration, tracking, monitoring and compliance.
The Private Sector led E-kiosk Business Model in partnership with the National Lottery Authority (NLA), and interoperability between banking and mobile payments, plus other digital initiatives are all aimed at achieving a Cashlite Society and improve revenue mobilization for national development.
5. *Sustainable Economic and Financial System*
The recent clean-up exercise of the banking and specialized deposit-taking and non-banking financial institutions by President Akufo-Addo’s Government has helped to save monies, funds and lifetime investments of millions of depositors, private companies and investors across the Country.
Akufo-Addo’s Government inherited a collapsed financial sector from John Mahama’s Government but thankfully to bold decisions of the NPP Government, the Country’s financial sector is now stronger and richer with the capacity to provide financial assistance to companies, individuals and investors, as well as create more jobs for Ghanaians under a stable and sustainable financial and economic environment.
For a country to achieve economic emancipation, there is a need to have a vibrant, well-resourced, well-governed and well-competitive financial sector. That was the main reason why Akufo-Addo’s Government committed billions of Ghana Cedis to save the financial sector.
Furthermore, for accountability purposes, steps have been taken to prosecute BOG officials, Managers and Board of Directors who caused the collapsed of the financial institutions.
6. *Industrialization and Agriculture*
Industrialization and growth of Agriculture are key pillars to Ghana Beyond Aid. On that basis, President Akufo-Addo’s Government has implemented One District One Factory, One Village One Dam, One District One Warehouse, Planting for Food and Jobs, and Rearing for Food and Jobs programmes across the Country.
These initiatives aimed at creating jobs for Ghanaians and raising substantial revenue for economic self-reliance and sufficiency.
Again, the signing of the Continental Free Trade Area (CTFA), the largest trade agreement since the establishment of World Trade Organization, and Ghana being the host of the Secretariat, is a major step of achieving Ghana Beyond Aid.
*Conclusion*
I would like to respectfully state that, Ghana beyond corruption is just a subset of Ghana Beyond Aid. Ghana Beyond Aid is a complete package that covers fight against corruption.
All the efforts listed above aimed at ensuring that revenue generated are protected from corruption, wastage, misapplication and misappropriation of Public Funds, and with these efforts and the NPP’s continuous stay in power, there will be no need to seek financial assistance from donor partners in future.
