Mahama must redouble his efforts

Majority of Ghanaians are of the view that the economy is in bad shape. Their assertion does not come out of the blue, for they provide verifiable evidence to justify their claim.

We of Public Agenda identify with this position as stated clearly in our banner story and therefore wish to urge the President on to redouble his efforts.

The economy last year was characterised by unfavourable features, including high inflation rate, free fall of the cedi and high interest rates;

erratic power supply which still persists; and incessant labour unrest for better conditions of service.

The President was heavily criticised for his failure to crack the whip on non-performing ministers and his indecisiveness in ministerial appointments as well as his inability to retrieve monies owed the State by some individuals and companies who have defrauded the nation.

Many are those who have described the President's feeble efforts at dealing with corruption as a monumental failure. They readily cite instances such as SUBAH, SADA and GYEEDA to support their assertion.

All these did incalculable damage to the image of the President.

We recognise the President's efforts in respect of building infrastructure. Examples could be cited of the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange, Awoshie Pokuase Road, the Spintex Dualisation project, the Eastern Corridor road, expansion of the Ridge and Wa Regional hospitals. One could also cite the rehabilitation of Tamale and Kumasi airports, the beginning of the construction of some of the community Senior High Schools out of the 200 promised, and the Atuabo Gas Infrastructure.

The President has earned the compliments of many Ghanaians for the water supply to their homes, following the expansion of the Kpong Waterworks. Areas such as Adenta and Ashalley Botwe, which for donkey years have not seen a single drop of water flow through their taps, now heave a sigh of relief as water has started flowing through their taps.

Public Agenda is consoled by the fact that some of the concrete steps taken by the Government in the closing moments of 2014 to fix the challenges in the economic front are beginning to yield the intended results. And it is our hope that the measures would be sustained to their logical end in order to restore the economy, and improve the lot of Ghanaians.

We, therefore, call on the President to redouble his efforts to take the decisive, but necessary measures that would steer the state's ship through the present turbulent waters safely ashore.