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Considering the status of Ghana before the swearing-in of President Akufo-Addo in January 7, 2017, and comparing to the current state of Ghana, it is evidently clear that, President Akufo-Addo has performed exceptionally better than his counterparts; President of the United States of America (USA) and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK) in the following areas of socio-economic architecture and development of the respective Countries:
1. Management of COVID-19/Omicron Variant
President Akufo-Addo demonstrated world-class leadership when COVID-19 emerged and he continues to show quality leadership towards the management of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
President Akufo-Addo became the reference point during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis and he was globally quoted to motivate the citizens of other countries, and popular quote, “We know how to bring the economy back to life. What we do not know is how to bring people back to life”.
Some of the various strategies implemented by President Akufo-Addo to address the surge in Coronavirus cases in Ghana were adopted and subsequently implemented by several countries around the world.
The partial lockdown of the country, the closing of the borders, rapid testing and enhanced contract tracing, providing personal protective equipment and insurance packages for health workers and frontliners, are all measures that were adopted and implemented by other Countries.
President Akufo-Addo’s in collaboration with the private sector set up the Ghana COVID-19 private sector fund, through which about thousands of Ghanaians were provided with free food for days/weeks.
Ghana Infectious Disease Center was established by the help of Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector Fund.
President Akufo-Addo also provided free water and free electricity to all Ghanaians for several months during the peak of the Coronavirus cases, a policy both the United Kingdom and United States could not offer to their respective citizens.
More human lives have been lost to COVID-19 and Omicron Variant in the United Kingdom and United States than in Ghana. Facts are sacred.
2. Education
Millions of Ghanaian Children have become beneficiaries of Akufo-Addo’s Free SHS Policy and thousands continue to enjoy this laudable policy currently, and mind you, the Free SHS Policy of Akufo-Addo is non-existent in the Uni Kingdom and United States of America.
This makes President Akufo-Addo’s free SHS policy globally special. Beginning next year, Ghanaian children are also going to enjoy free TVET.
Free SHS graduates, who have qualified for university education, would also be enjoying the No Guarantor Policy for Students Loan, a policy which is exclusively special to Ghana.
Allowances for Teachers and Nursing Trainees are paid by President Akufo-Addo, a policy which is non-existent in the United Kingdom and United States of America.
Relatively, in terms of Educational infrastructure, President Akufo-Addo has performed better than the United Kingdom and United States.
3. Policy Initiatives and Implementation
President Akufo-Addo’s government has formulated and implemented several policies within the last five years than the governments of the United Kingdom and United Kingdom.
From 1 District 1 Factory, Planting for food and jobs, Rearing for food and jobs, Aquaculture for food and jobs, 1 Constituency 1 Ambulance, 1 Village 1 Dam, Free SHS, Free TVET, NABCO, NEIP etc.
4. Employment
Considering the size of Ghana’s economy and population, President Akufo-Addo has provided more jobs for his people than the jobs that have been provided by the United Kingdom and United States to their respective citizens.
Millions of jobs have been created by Akufo-Addo’s Government over the last five years under the various policies listed above and certainly, in terms of comparative relativity, Akufo-Addo’s Government has done well than the Governments of the United Kingdom and United States.
5. Rate of Development
The number of infrastructure projects executed by President Akufo-Addo since 2017 have been phenomenal and in terms of relativity, it outshines his counterparts in the United Kingdom and United States.
The leaders of UK and US inherited solid infrastructure and beautiful estates for hundreds of years unlike President Akufo-Addo who came to meet the snail pace of infrastructural development in Ghana.
President Akufo-Addo inherited an inflation rate around 17.5% from Mahama John, however Akufo-Addo’s Government has to reduce it significantly to 12.37% in 2017, 9.84% in 2018, 7.14% in 2019, 9.89% in 2020 and currently around 9.28%.
Interestingly, in 2017 inflation rate in the United States and the United Kingdom were around 2.1% and 2.68% respectively, however in 2021 it is around 6.8% and 5.1% respectively for the United States and United Kingdom.
Therefore, one can state emphatically that, relatively in terms of the management of Country’s inflation rate, President Akufo-Addo’s government has performed better than the governments of the United Kingdom and United States of America over the last five years.
6. Economic Recovery Strategy Post COVID-19 and era of Omicron Variant
President Akufo-Addo’s Government as part of the efforts and strategies to rebuild the Ghanaian economy came up with the Ghana COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalization of Enterprises Support(CARES), also known as the “Obaatanpa” Programme and this policy is aimed at supporting Ghanaians and enterprises with over a hundred billion Cedis budget to rebuild and transform the Ghanaian economy with the ultimate objective of pushing the Country towards the Ghana Beyond Aid Agenda.
Through GEA and NEIP, millions of jobs would be created, nurtured and sustained under the YouStart Policy.
All the critical sectors of the economy are also receiving the necessary attention from Akufo-Addo’s Government so that our rise post-COVID-19 becomes a comprehensive one.
With the little resources we have as a Country comparable to the United Kingdom and the United States, clearly, the pragmatic methodology by President Akufo-Addo to rebuild, transform and reposition the Ghanaian economy post-COVID-19 and the era of Omicron Variant is second to none and better than the approaches of the United Kingdom and the United States.
By Joseph Yaw Nana Cobbina
