Many Ghanaians have reacted to the State of the Nation Address delivered by President John Kufuor last Thursday.
While some say it was brilliant and excellent one, Mr. Edward Doe Adjaho, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Avenor-Ave, and Deputy Minority Leader, thinks the address was a combination of blame game, unfulfilment of promises, self-praises, a minimum tone of reconciliation, and a conclusion with partisan tone.
According to the MP, since this State of the Nation Address was the last of President Kufuor as he leaves office next year, the President should have used the occasion to unify the country and take the liberty to reconcile the nation.
"Because the country is more polarised and the National Reconciliation has not really reconciled this country as we expected," he added.
Mr. Adjaho said the President sounded partisan when he said looking at the work done by the New Patriotic Party, the good people of Ghana would retain the party in power.
He pointed out the President can be partisan, but at an occasion where all state institutions and Ghanaians were eager to listen to him, it was not the platform for him to have done so.
"In the address, he praised himself, it is like a school teacher who sets his examination, marks it himself and gives himself distinction. It was a missed opportunity," he said.
He continued that, "it was a blame game when he talked about the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) debt. The TOR debt is currently over four trillion cedis, and currently Ghanaians are paying realistic prices for petroleum products."
The Avenor-Ave MP who will seek a fourth term, reacted to the President's construction of presidential palaces, and indicated that it is though a step in the right direction because Presidents should be given maximum comfort, and security as well as the tools to work with, it must be done in relation to the resources available.
"Because in a country where some children are still struggling to get classrooms to study, it is not prudent to build many presidential palaces."
However, NPP MP for New Juaben, Mr. Hackman Owusu Agyemang, said the State of the Nation Address was brilliant one that will propel the fortunes of the country. "On a balance, it was one of the best State of the Nation Addresses delivered so far."
Source: MJFM
