Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has congratulated Ghanaian workers on the occasion of Workers' Day for their immense contributions and patriotism towards the transformation of the economy.

He urged them to use the occasion to reflect on what they could do individually and collectively to accelerate Ghana's development in their respective fields of endeavour to increase productivity, improve the lives of Ghanaians, customer service and make the country globally competitive.

In a congratulatory message to workers on Wednesday, Dr Bawumia said President Akufo-Addo's government would always put the interest of the Ghanaian worker first.

Vice President Bawumia outlined some successes chalked by the Government so far since assuming office in 2017,including; reduction of electricity tariffs – 17.5 per cent for Households, 30 per cent for Industries, establishment of the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) of which 100,000 graduates were employed and creation of jobs and lifted the freeze on recruitment in the public sector resulting in the recruitment of 350,000 qualified persons.

Others are abolition of fees for post graduate medical training, increased the share of the District Assemblies Common Fund to persons with disabilities by 50 per cent, ensuring 50 per cent of the persons who manage the country’s toll booths were persons with disabilities and transferred GHS 3.1 billion of Tier 2 pension funds into the custodial accounts of the pension schemes of the labour unions, funds that were outstanding since 2013.



The restoration of Nursing and Teacher Training Allowances, abolition of excise duty on petroleum, reduced the special petroleum tax rate from 17.5 per cent to 13 per cent and converted to a specific, abolished levies imposed on ‘kayayei’ by local authorities, abolished the 17.5 per cent VAT/NHIL on financial services, started the 'One District One Factory' initiative-some factories are operational, implemented a stimulus package for existing factories, whilst plans was underway for the establishment of an automotive industry and an integrated Bauxite and Aluminium industry.

Vice President Bawumia also mentioned the revival of the operations of VALCO and Anglogold Ashanti, implementation of the 'One Village One Dam' initiative to help farmers and communities in the five northern regions, made seeds, fertilizers and extension services available to farmers under the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative, 1,350 start-ups benefited from National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan - Beneficiary amounts range from GHc10,000 to GHc100,000, restored research allowances for lecturer, reduced inflation and interest rates, saved the deposits of 1.5 million depositors who would otherwise have lost their savings if their banks collapsed, reduced the base of import duty charges by between 30 per cent and 50 percent to reduce the burden on traders and businessmen, provided financial support to disabled women entrepreneurs, implemented the Free Senior High School policy to help parents and school children and implemented the “Ghana TVET Voucher Project”, to provide training to registered master craftspersons, their workers and apprentices from the informal sector and improved access to accredited technical and vocational education.