Mahama presented 'untruths' – Minority

Minority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has accused President John Mahama of presenting “palpable untruths, half-truths, and embellished truths,” during his State of the Nation Address to Parliament on Thursday February 25, 2016.

Addressing the media after the president’s three-hour address, the Minority leader expressed dissatisfaction with the time spent by President Mahama on his ‘evidence-based’ presentation.

“There are three measures of assessing any State of the Nation Address. First of all the president is obligated under Article 67 of our constitution to present to the people of this country through the House of Parliament the State of the Nation Address,” the Suame MP stated.

“Article 34(2) provides us with some window about what to expect in a State of a Nation Address. So, that is the first measure that one uses to assess the presentation and the Article 34(2) talks about measures taken towards liberalisation of the basic human right of persons in this country.

“The second one is the health of the economy. The third one: the right to work and the right to employment. How many people are employed in this country? Of course, we do know that employment is predicated on agriculture and industry. What is the state of agriculture in this country? What is the state of industry, especially the manufacturing industry, in this country?

“The right to good healthcare of the citizens of this country, the right to education; these are the essential ingredients that the president ought to have reported to this country on.

“It was a tragedy of a presentation and for the avoidance of doubt, the president presented palpable untruths, half-truths and embellished truths.

“What is the state of the economy? He pushed it to the background because one thought that advancing the course of this country will be predicated on the economy: solid economy by every yard stick, GDP growth rate, interest rates, inflation, the strength of the currency. By every yard stick, our country is not doing well”.