Akufo-Addo electrifies Takoradi

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday brought commercial activities at the Takoradi Market Circle to a halt when he visited the area on the last day of his 3-day working visit to the Western Region.

Nana Addo was mobbed by traders and commercial drivers who abandoned everything to catch a glimpse of him.

He took time to interact with many people in the various communities he visited with his entourage.

Addressing the people, the president mentioned that he would ensure the relocation of the headquarters of the Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC) to the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis as he promised during his 2016 electioneering campaign.

Nana Addo also pointed out that his government would make the Western Region the hub of oil and gas in the West African sub-region.

He told the traders that very soon the Takoradi main market would be renovated by the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly to give it a facelift.

President Akufo-Addo stressed that he wanted Ghanaians to look upon him as a man of his words, and as someone who tells the truth and delivers on his promises.

He reiterated that in September 2017, two important campaign promises he made were going to be fulfilled. He maintained that because of the importance he attaches to education, the ‘Free Senior High School’ policy will see its implementation next month (September).

“You know how I was vilified when I made the promise. Some people said that I am doing it for politics, I am trying to buy votes; I can’t do it, and I am lying to the people of Ghana,” he recalled.

He emphasised, “But by the grace of God and with the support of the Minister for Education, Mathew Opoku Prempeh, in September this year, the ‘Free SHS’ policy will be implemented.”

Again, President Akufo-Addo recounted, “We committed ourselves to restoring the nurses’ and teacher trainees’ allowances and I still stand by that. The allowances are going to be restored in full.”

“My government inherited a bankrupt economy filled with debt. Nonetheless, I am not intimidated by the debt. Anybody with a good heart and determination can turn debt into money, and that is what I am going to do,” the president assured.

He said for the past six months, the government had been putting things right to revitalise the economy and that the steps taken to resolve the country’s fiscal challenges were yielding positive dividends.

He said his administration was putting in place prudent interventions to ensure that the country’s cocoa production reaches a peak of 1.5 million metric tonnes by the end of his tenure, adding that this would bring the needed gains into the economy and provide jobs for the teeming youth.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Takoradi, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, revealed that the government was in the process of establishing a Regional Maritime University in Takoradi in October to train seamen.