Prez Mahama appeals for patience; As govt strives to solve power crisis President John Dramani Mahama has appealed to Ghanaians to be a little more patient and tolerant with the government over the power crisis because the problem cannot be solved overnight. Speaking at an end-of-year meeting with the Council of State at the Peduase Lodge yesterday, the President said he appreciated the sacrifices Ghanaians had made under the erratic power supply, but said the enormity of the challenge demanded some more time to overcome, so that the country would not find itself in that unpleasant situation again. Consequently, he said the government had adopted some strategies, including bringing in liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar and Equatorial Guinea to complement what was received from Nigeria to feed the Tema enclave through a barge. With the Atuabo Gas processing plant having come on board, gas supply to the western part of the country had improved tremendously, he added. Touching on the Tier 2 pension brouhaha that ended in court, President Mahama said he had asked the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations and the other stakeholders to engage with labour to resolve the issue amicably. On corruption in society, the President said it was paradoxical that when the government had shown commitment to fight corruption, it was rather being accused of corruption. I know that in previous cases the way to go was to hide it. Now we are ready to raise the carpet and sweep out all the dirt that is under the carpet to make sure that the room is clean, he said. This government is determined to fight corruption and will not be deterred by all the noise that is being made and accusations being levelled against us, he stressed. The President told the meeting that the programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was ongoing and expressed the hope that by the first quarter of next year Ghana would be able to sign on to the three-year programme, adding that the government would not allow the IMF to dictate to it. He said efforts were underway to clear statutory payments that had been in arrears because of lack of funds. He commended the Council of State for its good counsel that had contributed to the successes the government had chalked up so far.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 11:47:12 +0000
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