Accra, Jan. 22, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday said the Government would lead the way in nurturing democracy and encourage the promotion of individual liberties and freedom of speech that Ghanaians have been enjoying since it came into office. It would also pursue the same levelheaded and prudent policies and not succumb to the temptation of seeking short-term answers although 2004 is an election year.
President Kufuor made the pledge when delivering the Third State of The Nation Address to Parliament in Accra.
The 80-minute address, which was characterized by cheers from the Majority and boos from the Minority, saw President Kufuor wiping sweat from his face and drinking water intermittently as he gave an overview of the New Patriotic Party's (NPP's) administration for the past three years.
The address dwelt mainly on the economy and achievements made so far on the Government's five priority areas - of infrastructure development; modernized agriculture; private sector development; enhanced social services on health and education and good governance. President Kufuor said the Government's decision were based on the firm belief that such practices build the self-confidence of Ghanaians and were good for the nation.
However, he said the current media pluralism had played a good role in promoting accountability and transparency in public life but it should not be made in such a way that would make the nation to lose its soul. "The pursuit of the truth should be sacrosanct. As a people, we lay great store on respect for our elders and the use of cultured language and we should not lose such attributes under the pretext of freedom of speech", he said.
On the economy, President Kufuor said by the end of last year, all the macroeconomic trends pointed at sound and sustainable economic development.
He said the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves was the highest within memorable years and currently stood at over 1.4 billion dollars and covered four months of imports.
"For the first time in many years interest rates fell from their high level of over 50 per cent in the banks to the current 26 per cent and are following the Central Bank's base rate which has also declined from over 30 per cent to the current 21.5 per cent", he said.
President Kufuor said the country's recent history revealed a tendency towards financial indiscipline in election years thus negating the achievements of years of sacrifice and said the Government would resist all temptations and pressures to depart from the expenditure framework that would be outlined in the forthcoming budget.
He, therefore, called on other sectors of the society to also accept the same responsibility for discipline this year, adding, "we urge the people in general and organized labour in particular to be moderate in their demands as we cannot afford to reverse the gains we have made over the past three years".
President Kufuor said the proof that Ghana was finally getting its economic matters onto a sound footing was demonstrated by the robust change in domestic revenue mobilisation in the past year.
He said a sound economy was built on the ability to generate revenue internally and, therefore, asked Ghanaians desirous of rapid development to accept to pay their taxes.
President Kufuor commended the measures put in place and the officials, who administered the revenue collection regimes and the taxpayers that enabled the nation to exceed its budgeted target.
He announced that this year, revenue mobilisation would be equally robust and trusted that all citizens would play their part.
President Kufuor said the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning would further improve the existing mobilisation mechanisms through efficient and effective tax collection strategies.
"We believe that reforms in the operational strategies will lead to plugging leakages in the tax system and thereby ensure optimum revenue mobilisation without further burdening the taxpayer", he said.
On the operations of the Ghana Stock Exchange, President Kufuor said last year, investor confidence was high and that led to the GSE All-Share Index recording a gain of over 108 per cent making it one of the best performing markets in Sub-Saharan Africa.
He said "after decades of political turbulence and economic stagnation, the nation is at long last beginning to see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. This year must, therefore, be the year of consolidation".
President Kufuor was ushered into and seen off the Chamber by Mr Peter Ala Adjetey, The Speaker. He signed the visitor's book.
Present in the Chamber were Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama; Mr George Kingsley Acquah, Chief Justice and members of the Judiciary, Members of the Council of State, the Diplomatic Corps and people from all walks of life.

Nine billion cedi-scholarship for needy students in deprived districts

Accra, Jan. 22, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor, delivering his State of the Nation Address, to Parliament, on Thursday, announced that nine billion cedis has been committed to cater for fees and levies of pupils in the 40 most deprived districts to ensure massive enrolment. Five thousand, five hundred needy pupils, mostly girls, received material support last year.
The 80-minutes address, which covered issues on the management of the economy and the five priority areas of Government - infrastructure development; modernized agriculture; private sector development; enhanced social services on health and education and good governance and highlighted some of the gains made in those areas and targets for the year.
President Kufuor said 440 classroom blocks would be constructed this year to improve educational infrastructure. Last year, 685 three-unit classroom blocks, with library, teachers' common room and other relevant facilities were constructed across the nation.
Additionally, 224 billion cedis would be spent to modernise and enlarge the capacity of facilities such as lecture halls, libraries, laboratories and administration blocks at the universities and polytechnics and other tertiary institutions.
He said 28 billion cedis was invested in research. These measures, the President noted, reflected in the admission levels of the institutions.
"The 2002/2003 academic year intake to universities and polytechnics rose by 30.5 per cent and 28.5 per cent, respectively, above that of the previous year."
A phenomenal achievement in the Education sector, the President pointed out, was the enrolment for Distance Learning, saying that enrolment rose from 750 in the 2001-2002 academic year to 3,618 in the 2002-2003 academic year.
"The happy result is that, this has reduced by half, the number of teachers, who leave the classroom to go on study leave annually, he said, adding that in the process, the big problem of inadequate number of qualified teachers in the classrooms was being addressed. President Kufuor welcomed the newly introduced publication of a league table of Examination Performance of Senior Secondary Schools and urged old students and communities to contribute toward the development of schools.
In line with the policy of upgrading at least one senior secondary school in each district, work on the first batch of 31 schools was progressing, he said.
The President said funding had been secured from the African Development Bank to cater for the next batch, which comprise 25 schools. Vice President Aliu Mahama, Members of the Judiciary, Council of State, Executive and the Diplomatic Corps were among those that were in Parliament to listen to the President.
National Democratic Congress (NDC) Leader Professor John Evans Atta Mills, Great Consolidated People's Party (GCPP) Leader Dan Lartey and other Minority Party Leaders were in the House. So were the First Lady Theresa Kufuor and the wife of the Vice President Hajia Ramatu. At the end of it all President Kufuor received a standing ovation for his speech, which he preceded with comments about the state of the economy in 2001 when he assumed office.
The Majority Leader Felix Owusu-Agyepong described the speech as thought provoking but The Minority Leader, Alban Bagbin said it was inconsiderate.