MY dear friends, I am glad to see you all gathered here. These meetings are essential, firstly because they give us the opportunity to be together, see each other, and reinforce the fact that we are in a team.

But most importantly, we have the chance to assess our progress so far and remind ourselves of the vision that we took to the people of Ghana and for which they entrusted the government of the country to us.

The nature of the problems we inherited means that there is a real danger that we can so easily get sucked into simply trying to keep things afloat and settle into a routine. There is the even bigger danger that some of us might become so comfortable and lose the dynamism that propelled us into office.

It is worth reminding all of us again about what I said at the first gathering in these very rooms a year ago: “The trappings of power are very seductive and unless we keep our attention focused on the main task ahead of us, we can soon become masters of form rather than of substance.” I urge you all to keep these works in your mind at all time. There are two things that we owe the people of Ghana: First, we must establish a culture of good governance in the four years that we have and, we must, within the same period, lay solid foundations to transform the economy to improve the lives of the peoples.

Thus far, we are on the right path. This past year, the difficult decisions we took have paid some dividends and we have stabilised things.

But we need to do far more than stabilise things. Look at it this way; the economists tell me that if the economy continues to grow at the current rate of four per cent or so, and the population grows at two-and-a-half per cent, it will take as much as 50 years to only halve the number of people designated as poor.

This is obviously not acceptable in our circumstances. We have manifesto commitments to meet, we have promises to fulfil and we have a responsibility to transform the lives of the many people who look to us for a way out of their current difficulties.

I believe that it is possible to turn things around and dramatically. The most essential ingredient in an economy is the people. We are lucky that Ghanaians are hardworking and are anxious to learn. What has been missing so far is an honest and inspired leadership.

My friends, I believe this New Patriotic Party government can and must offer this leadership. It is time for us to move up a gear. From now onwards, our language should change. It should shift from “we shall” do this or the other ones, to: “we have done this or we are doing this or the other ones”.

Let the people hear the sound of construction on the roads and at the ports, let them see factories going up, let the people hear the purring of tractors, and the sound of food processing and packaging equipment. Let the young people get off the streets into skill training courses and into productive work. Let the people see classrooms rehabilitated and equipped. There have been enough discussions about the health insurance schemes; it is time to put them into operation. Let the people feel safe on the streets and in their homes.

Due to prudence and good management, money is available to start all these projects. To be able to sustain the activity, and avoid the stop-go that has been the feature of our lives for so long, we must grow the economy. We aim to double the size of the economy by the year 2008. That is an achievable goal.

I have spelt out the priorities of the government. The state of the nation address articulated these priorities and the budget reflected them. Let us get set to work.

I know I have a lot of stars in the team I have assembled, I know there is a lot of intellect and commitment in this room. But we have to pull together, we have to work as a team and we have to be each other’s keeper. But nobody will be allowed to be a weak link and retard the progress of the entire team. I demand hard work from all.

For the next two-and-a-half days, we have the opportunity to an impressive array of resource persons. They will help us take a critical look at our performance. I urge all of you to bring an open mind to the sessions.

We are grateful to have them and I wish to give my personal thanks to those who have come from afar. I hope that our British friends enjoy their stay and the sessions. Their experiences might not be Ghanaian, but good governance is a universal concept and I have no doubt they will provide us with a lot of food for thought. My thanks to the local resource persons as well, we look forward to their contributions.

My friends, time is not on our side, we do not have the luxury to sit and contemplate and to bicker among ourselves. I believe we can deliver, our compatriots believe we can deliver. There is nothing to hold us back, let us get on with it.

Thank you and may God bless us all.