March 7

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018
People rarely succeed unless they
have fun in what they are doing.
—Dale Carnegie
Prez declares
war against
armed robbers
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH
muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com.gh
THE PRESIDENT,
Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo, has described
the recent
spate of armed robberies
in the country
as unacceptable and declared that
those "miscreants" would no longer
have the space to terrorise citizens
and generate a sense of insecurity
in the country.
According to him, he is under
every obligation to maintain peace
of the country and will not compromise
it.
The President’s assurance comes
in the wake of what has been
months of bloody armed robbery
attacks which have claimed scores
of human lives and loss of property.
Addressing the 61st Independence
Day celebration at the Black
Star Square in Accra yesterday,
President Akufo-Addo said
“I will work to ensure that citizens
are able to go about their daily
duties in the confidence that they
are safe. I want to make this clear:
no miscreant will have the space to
terrorise citizens and generate a
sense of insecurity in our country,”
he promised.
“My dear fellow Ghanaians all
these plans and big dreams I have
outlined will come to not if we do
not have peace in our country, the
primary requirement for prosperity
is peace. The first obligation of any
government is to ensure the safety
and security of the citizenry. As
your President, this is an obligation
I accept and I am determined to
discharge faithfully,” he stated.
RTI Bill
According to him, he would
give impetus to his fight against
corruption by urging Parliament to
pass the Right to Information Bill
(RTI) before the House goes on recess.
The RTI Bill has been gathering
dust since 2013 when it first went
to Parliament. The right to information
is a fundamental human
right guaranteed by the country’s
1992 Constitution and recognised
as a right under International Conventions
on Human rights.
The Bill will give substance to
Article 21 (1) (f) of the Constitution
which states that “All persons
shall have the right to information
subject to such qualifications and
•President Nana Akufo-Addo
laws as are necessary in a democratic
society.
“Fellow Ghanaians, corruption,
or, more specifically, the stealing of
public funds, continues to hold
back the development of our nation.
Corruption is not a partisan
matter and we must all act to protect
the public purse. With the office
of the Special Prosecutor now
in place we can expect more prosecutions
for corruption in the coming
months and public officials,
present and past, should be on notice
that they would be held accountable
for their stewardship of
our public finances,” he noted.
Ghana Beyond Aid
President Akufo-Addo also
noted stated that the ‘Ghana Beyond
Aid’ mantra is not just a slogan
but meant to propel Ghana
into the frame of mind that would
quicken the pace of development.
“My fellow Ghanaians, ours is a
country that is well endowed with
many natural resources such as
gold, bauxite, diamonds, oil, timber,
cocoa, water, fertile land etc. The
truth, however, is that the state of
our nation does not bear out that
we have these natural endowments.
Poverty continues to be our lot. We
have huge infrastructural deficits.
“Mismanagement, corruption
and high fiscal deficits have become
the hallmarks of our economy,
which we finance through
borrowing and foreign aid. It is
time to pursue a path to prosperity
and self-respect for our nation. A
‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ is a prosperous
and self-confident Ghana that
is in charge of its economic destiny.
It is not a pie in the sky notion,
other countries; including some of
our peers at independence have
done exactly that. It is doable and
we must believe that what others,
with less resources, have done, we
can do.
“Ghana Beyond Aid is meant to
be more than a slogan. It is meant
to propel us into the frame of mind
that would quicken our pace of development.
It is meant to change
our mindset from one of dependency
to one of achieving our destiny.
It is meant to put us in charge
of our own affairs and make us
truly independent.”
President Buhari
lauds Ghana
The President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, Mr Muhammadu
Buhari, who was the quest
of honour, commended President
Akufo-Addo for the creation of
the Special Prosecutor (SP) office
to fight corruption in Ghana.
According to him, the move
demonstrates the President’s willingness
and determination to
weed out corruption from the
public life of the country.
“I congratulate both the government
and Parliament for the
quick passage of the SP Act and
its signing into law,” he said.
“Your Excellency, you can be
assured that you have a good
partner in me as I look forward to
any form of collaboration between
Nigeria and Ghana in tackling
the menace of endemic
corruption,” he said.