Nine things President Akufo-Addo must do in his first 100 days in office

By Edward Ackah-Nyamike

On 7th January 2017 Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo was sworn in as the 5th President of the 4th Republic of Ghana after a convincing victory in the 2016 Presidential Election. As has become the convention, the first assessment of Nana Addo's performance as President shall be based on his first hundred days in the highest office of the land.

The criteria for this assessment are likely to be based on some aspects of his campaign promises as well as the vested interest and perspectives of individuals and organizations. As a patriotic citizen of this wonderful nation, I have decided to share my expectations of what President Akufo-Addo must do during his first hundred days in office to enhance his performance:


As a Christian who made his faith obvious during the campaign, I expect President Akufo-Addo to continue to demonstrate his trust and faith in the Almighty God by attending church regularly and allowing his Christian principles to reflect in his actions.

Assets declaration is considered as one of the significant ways to clamp down on corruption. I expect President Akufo-Addo to demonstrate transparency, accountability and zero tolerance for corruption by declaring his assets and ensuring that his appointees do same in his first hundred days in office.

The Flagstaff House or is it the Jubilee House is the seat of Government and I expect President Akufo-Addo to locate his office and residence at the Flagstaff House to give it a true Presidential status.

Many contrasting views have been expressed about the state of the nation to the extent that we don't even know what to believe. I expect President Akufo-Addo on his own accord to present the true state of the nation on all aspects of the economy to get all of us on the same page.

I expect President Akufo-Addo, by the end of his first hundred days in office, to demonstrate an appreciable all-inclusive government and a President-for-all posture with his ministerial and other public office appointments. I hope to see a lower number of ministerial positions than we had in the previous government.

President-elect Donald Trump has started revising his campaign promises even before his swearing in. I expect President Akufo-Addo to do same by revising and presenting realistic goals based on the reality on the ground. This must be done within his first hundred days in office.

Ensure that the foundation for a clear line between government and NPP communication is laid. We should be able to clearly distinguish between information from Government and information from the New Patriotic Party by the end of the first hundred days of office.

President Akufo-Addo must demonstrate his intention to cut down public expenditure drastically by ensuring a modest celebration of Ghana at 60.

Finally President Akufo-Addo must demonstrate his commitment to rule of law by ensuring the appointment of the independent public prosecutor and "evacuation" of all former public appointees from public residences and facilities within the first hundred days of his presidency.

E.E ACKAH-NYAMIKE JNR.
A citizen of Ghana & not a spectator.
Writer's e-mail:Email: eackah9@gmail.com