Professor John Gatsi, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, has advised Government to treat the country’s security concerns objectively and with the necessary seriousness since it defined the investment environment.

He asked government not to trivialise the nagging issues of armed robberies, kidnapping, contract killing, land guard menace, and political vigilantism, but rather tackle it head-on.

Prof. Gatsi, also the Head of the Finance Department, University of Cape Coast, gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, as part of his expectations of the State-of-the-Nation address, which would be delivered by the President on Thursday, February 21.

“The security of the citizens, freedom to express our views and the rule of law are fundamental to our democracy and the overall well-being of Ghanaians, therefore undermining the security concerns could affect the country’s democracy negatively,” he pointed out.

Touching on the economy, Prof. Gatsi said he expected the President to address the depreciation of the cedi, which is affecting the pricing of goods and services.

Additionally, he said, the increased importation of chocolate, rice and sugar into the country last year should be addressed since government policies were intended to reduce their importation.

For instance, he said government in 2018 imported rice to the tune of 339 million dollars, sugar-123 million dollars and chocolate-45 million dollars.

On the banking reforms, Prof. Gatsi said the President is expected to furnish the public on the impact the recapitalization of the banks had made on the banking sector and economy in general.

Consequently, the final exit package from the three-year International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme should be mentioned and chart the way forward.