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HIV/AIDS. Indeed, about a week ago Dr. Asare, the Chief Psychiatrist
at the Mental Hospital gave an interview to the VOA in which he talked
about the monumental levels to which drug use has reached in our country.
And indeed, he also went on to talk about his concern about the effects of
drug use on our human resource base. Atta Mills’ government will cooperate
with the appropriate agencies, both local and foreign, to stamp out the
drug trade. As I said not too long ago, Atta Mills will not allow the drug
barons to make Ghana a subsidiary of their activities. Ghana is a signatory
to the UN laws on narcotics control especially the part that deals with seizure
and forfeiture of assets of those convicted of dealing in narcotics. We
shall faithfully and diligently follow our obligations, honour our obligations
under these laws. And I can assure you that Atta Mills will be in no
hurry to arrange for the exchange of these prisoners or their transfers from
foreign jails where they are justifiably languishing in Ghanaian prisons.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I am sure you will want to have an
idea as to some of the initiatives that we want to take when it comes to
the economy, which obviously is what the whole thing is about. We will
adopt a set of policies, which will ensure high economic growth. We will
do this by anchoring it in an increase in domestic savings to support a high
volume of investment in infrastructure. Our emphasis on infrastructure
is deliberate. By so doing we will be facilitating industrial development,
which will enable us to create jobs for our people. We will not be unmindful
of the need to have macroeconomic stability. But we are not going to
have macroeconomic stability for its own sake. We will want an environment
that gives us the fiscal space to invest meaningfully in agriculture, in
education, in housing, in health, among others.
We shall also review the exemption scheme under our tax laws and also
put in place measures that will enhance revenue collection. But ladies and
gentlemen, we will also not hesitate in cutting out extravagance, filth and
profligate expenditure in government.
Now when it comes to agriculture, that, as I said, is going to be the backbone.
A nation that cannot feed itself is a nation in distress. We have a
situation where the average Ghanaian spends almost 70% of his income on
food. Now with the rising prices he may be spending 80% of his income
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