Daily Heritage November 10

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DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 11
Politics
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have
chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its
foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are
neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality
— Desmond Tutu
GRA central to Ghana’s
prospects – Prez Akufo-Addo
THE PRESIDENT
of the Republic,
Nana Addo
Dankwa Akufo-
Addo, has stated
that his government’s
vision of building a progressive
and prosperous Ghana
depends very much on the work
being undertaken by the Ghana
Revenue Authority (GRA).
According to President
Akufo-Addo, GRA is “a central
part of whether or not we are
going to succeed as a nation.
When we speak about wanting to
build a Ghana beyond aid, what
we are saying is that we should
become, like all the progressive
countries in the world, a country
that depends on its own resources
to buttress its own development,
and not a country going
around cap in hand begging for
this or that.”
The President explained that
Ghana should become a “country
of dignity and pride that is
able to finance its own development.
And, if we are going to be
able to do that, you are at the cutting
edge. If you succeed, Ghana
succeeds. If you fail, we will fail.”
President Akufo-Addo made
this known on Wednesday, November
8, 2017, when he visited
the Tema Harbour to interact
with officials of the GRA, as well
as apprise himself of the work
being undertaken at the harbour.
He told the officials of GRA
that “the work my government is
doing depends so much on you.
If you are able to meet our revenue
targets, it will then mean
that we would be able to finance
•President Nana Akufo-Addo exchanging pleasantries with officials of the GRA
the expenditures we would need
in our social sectors, for our education,
for our housing, for our
health, amongst others.”
President Akufo-Addo added
further that “we would then be
able to invest in those parts of
the economy that we would need
to invest in to grow our economy,
industry, trade and agriculture.”
He said “it is not by accident
that we were the first of the black
nations on the continent to become
free from European colonialism.
It is because generations
of Ghanaians had fought and
worked and mobilised to bring us
to where we are today. We have a
very proud past. But what will
make that proud past count is if
we have a prosperous and rich
future.”
It is for this reason the President
encouraged the GRA officials
to bear in mind that “the
time has come for us not to
‘chop’ Ghana small, but to make
Ghana great. If that is where all
of us are, we are going to build a
Ghana that is going to be the
wonder of this world. The world
will then see that there are
Africans capable of doing it.”
President Akufo-Addo, thus
urged the GRA to be “sincere,
active collaborators, co-operating
to build the Ghana of our
dreams. My part is to try to help
define and design the policy. But
you are the people responsible
for executing it. If the execution
is solid, Ghana is solid.”
Tema Port
Expansion Project
Prior to visiting the Tema
Harbour, the President visited the
site of the Tema Port expansion
project, where he reiterated the
commitment of his government
towards the rapid development of
the country, which will put
Ghana onto the path of progress
and prosperity, during his tenure
of office.
The Tema Port expansion,
which is a $1.5 billion project,
will improve Ghana’s trade competiveness,
facilitate trade growth
and improve revenue mobilisation.
The project will also allow
the Tema Port to accommodate
some of the world’s largest container
ships, and improve cargo
handling services and capacity.
Describing the project as an
exciting development in Ghana,
President Akufo-Addo stressed
that “we just have to wish that
everything goes well, so you can
meet the contractual deadlines. It
is extremely important for the development
of Ghana that such a
development should take place.
As you know, we are committed
to a very rapid development of
our country, especially its industrial
and agricultural sectors.”
The rapid development of the
country, according to the President,
requires the necessary support
infrastructure.
“This (Tema Port) is one of
them, which will ensure that we
will have in our country a 1st
class port, modern and capable
of receiving the biggest vessels in
the world, and allowing us to accelerate
the pace of our development
and of our exchanges,” he
said
President Akufo-Addo assured
the partners of the project
of government’s support to assist
them in fulfilling their contractual
obligations in bringing the project
online.
“It is a massive undertaking.
Some of our neighbours are also
undertaking important port developments
in Cote d’Ivoire and
in Lome, Togo. I have seen the
Lome facility myself, but I am
sure they will not be superior to
what we will have in Ghana,” a
confident President Akufo-Addo
added.
Environmental Uni. Saga: I erred – Ablakwa
BY MOHAMMED AWAL
FORMER DEPUTY Education
Minister in charge of tertiary education,
under the erstwhile Mahama
administration, Mr Samuel
Okudzeto Ablakwa has conceded
he erred in suggesting that
the supposed new location for
the campus for the University of
Environmental and Sustainable
Development – Bunso is at
Kyebi.
The North Tongu legislator
alleging the relocation move said:
“The programme, which Parliament
had already approved, was
that there will be two main campuses,
the Somanya campus and
the Donkorkrom campus in the
Affram Plains area.
“The information I have,
which is unimpeachable, credible,
is that this government has
changed the second campus
from Donkorkrom in Afram
Plains to Bunso in Kyebi, and
that is why they did not want to
answer the question. The facility
that this house approved in 2016
has to do with funding for two
campuses, there is reasonable
proximity.”
But after the Ministry of Education
debunked his claims as
‘preposterous’ Mr Ablakwa told
Francis Abban on Morning Starr
that his ‘Bunso in Kyebi’ claim
was an error.
“It was a mistake on my part
and you noticed that in my subsequent
statement which I issued
yesterday [Wednesday] I corrected
it. I said Bunso in the
Abuakwa South Constituency. So
that’s my error.
“The statement I wanted to
make was that Bunso is in the
Akyem area not Bunso in Kyebi.
It was a clear mistake on my part
and I apologise for that.”
•Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, former
deputy Minister of Education