Infrastructural development will be Prez Mahama's priority

President John Dramani Mahama on Friday delivered the State of the Nation address with the promise to strengthen state institutions, unite Ghanaians and undertake more infrastructural development in the coming years.

“Much as we are mentioning some of the achievements, there is the need to focus on keeping the nation united, grow stronger institutions and develop heavy infrastructure”, he said.

He said even with the challenges, the feeling of optimism was seeping into the Ghanaian consciousness, an indication that the days of division and discord “are behind us and that an era of unity and national renewal is upon us.”

The presentation of the State of the Nation address also symbolised the dissolution of the Fifth Parliament of the Fourth Republic.

President Mahama said after a peaceful and successful election, there was the need to open a new page of unity and national renewal that would accelerate nation building in succeeding years.

He also touched on agriculture and said there had been tremendous improvement as cocoa production for the first time recorded over one million tonnes, while there were surpluses in rice and maize cultivation in 2010 and 2011.

“Despite the adverse weather that the country experienced over the years, surpluses were recorded and cocoa exceeded a one million mark in the history of cocoa production in the country in recent times.”

President Mahama said over 1,700 communities were connected to electricity, while many more had been earmarked to benefit "in the part-two of the better Ghana Agenda.”

On education, President Mahama stated that over 40 per cent of schools under trees had been eliminated and many more would be eliminated in the next four years.

He said government had also increased access to public education by establishing two new Universities in the Volta and Brong Ahafo Regions and the improvement on infrastructure in the second-cycle institutions.

The President said over one million children now benefited from the school feeding programme, while arrangements were underway for the programme to be extended to many more children across the country.

He commended Members of Parliament, the Executive and all other stakeholders for their varied contributions towards the peaceful and successful general election.