Accra, Dec. 31GNA – The following is the full text of President John Agyekum Kufuor’s New Year’s Eve broadcast to the nation:
“Fellow Ghanaians,
“We have come to the close of one year and the beginning of another. This is a good moment to acknowledge with gratitude the hand of God in all our positive achievements of the past year. In thanking Him, we must seek His guidance and greater blessings for our Jubilee Year.
“New Year’s Eve is a watershed, and all round the world humanity celebrates the event with stock-taking of the passing year and visions for the ensuing year.
“The eve of the New Year is also a moment of different moods. These include happiness, thoughtfulness, gratitude, nostalgia and even sadness.
“Typically, our nation is equally gripped by the spirit of this magic period as an opportunity for reflecting on the passing year which, as you are aware, has been full of challenges, difficulties and successes.
“Significant among the challenges were the sky-rocketing crude oil prices which hit us from the very beginning of the year.
“Equally troubling were the many industrial actions that assailed the economy and society from otherwise stable sectors such as education, health and the public sector generally.
“Regrettably, the year also witnessed ghastly accidents on our roads and water courses most of which were caused by reckless driving, defective vehicles and overloading of boats.
“The menace of drug-trafficking became exposed as never before. Apparently regular and decent individuals were alleged to be implicated in this dehumanizing trade, and the fear is that we have not seen the bottom yet. The good news however, is that the Narcotics Control Board is being re-constituted and equipped to find solutions to this problem on a sustained basis.
“The incidence of violent crimes increased within the society. Sadly, the perpetrators were of all ages, including some minors who apparently were driven by a need to secure items like mobile phones and other electronic gadgets. These young people also tended to be under the influence of drugs.
“Yet another challenge occurred during the second half of the year, in the form of unfavorable weather conditions which affected the major source of our energy, the Volta . This led to load shedding which impacted negatively on electricity supply for both domestic and industrial uses.
“The cumulative impact of these setbacks naturally led the populace to wonder whether the economy which had been performing creditably, could withstand the shocks.
“Thankfully, as serious as all these challenges were, they failed to destabilize the society and economy to the extent that was feared.
“That the situation was largely contained can be attributed to the inherent strengths that have been developing within the society as a result of:
“Firstly, the openness of social discourse,
“Then, the increasing understanding of the mechanism of governance and the maturation of its diverse institutions, both public and private,
“Thirdly, the improving efficiency of macro-economic management, and incipient partnership between the public and private sectors for growth,
“Fourthly, the gradual but steady improvement in the law and order situation, as well as the acknowledgement and support by the international community and development partners for the country’s good governance practices.
“Fellow Ghanaians, it is becoming increasingly clear to our entire society that there is no magic wand of governance that would guarantee instant and spectacular results. Programmes and projects of development take time to mature.
“In the light of this appreciation of maturation, the year which is drawing to a close must be adjudged successful. It has been a year in which the moral and material fabric of our society has been stretched to the limit, tested and proven to be resilient and stable. It is this stability that constitutes the platform for the launch of the much desired accelerated growth for our national development.
“I must at this stage commend our law enforcement authorities for the appreciable and visible improvement in the execution of their duty. Naturally, there is still room for improvement, especially on the level of discipline that must be expected within their ranks. The authorities should work to weed out any miscreants that tarnish their image.
“On this front, we should acknowledge the substantial support and co-operation that the forces have enjoyed from our development partners both locally and internationally, especially in the area of the fight against drug trafficking.
“Fellow nationals, underlying the unrest on the labour front were agitations for increased pay. Government has gone ahead to launch the new pay structure within a framework which removes distortions, ensures equity and eliminates unfairness in the system. Already, there have been substantial increases in salaries across board; and this is only the first phase.
“Henceforth, the governing paradigm of the new framework is equal pay for work of equal value. What is left now is to improve productivity in order to put more money into the national treasury to sustain steady increases in salaries to levels that give greater satisfaction to all.
“My dear friends, at this special time of stock-taking, we cannot forget our victorious Black Stars. Their brilliant performance at the recent World Cup Tournament still resonates around the world. Beyond the massive goodwill that this has brought to the country, the spill-over returns have positive economic, political and diplomatic dimensions, which redound to the good of the nation.
Source: GhanaWeb
