Veteran politician credits Mahama’s govt for easing hardship

A veteran politician, Mohammed Haroon, has rated the John Dramani Mahama-led administration 70 per cent for its performance in the first year in office.

He said the government had eased the economic hardship on the citizenry, strengthened transparency and accountability and fulfilled key campaign promises, particularly those aimed at improving livelihoods and restoring public confidence in state institutions.

“In the general political environment of the country, if you look at what the NDC government has done so far, I can rate the government at 70 per cent within just one year, based on the promises they made,” he stated.

Campaign promises

In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Tamale last Monday, Alhaji Haroon, who is a former Member of Parliament for the then Chogu-Tishigu Constituency in tthe Northern Region in the first Parliament of the Fourth Republic,  pointed out that despite some challenges, the government demonstrated competence by fulfilling a number of the campaign promises.  
He observed that within the broader political environment, the performance of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)-led government had been commendable.

He also cited recent recruitment exercises and other social interventions undertaken by the government as a positive sign for inclusive youth employment, saying that it would go a long way to reduce unemployment in the country.

“The ongoing recruitment exercise shows that some young people will be employed, and this will go a long way to support their families and improve their living conditions,” he stated.

Education

On education, Alhaji Haroon said the government’s commitment to developing Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) would help develop the skills of the youth to enable them start their own ventures, thereby reducing the unemployment rate in the country.

He said “even though the previous government was working seriously on TVET, this government is taking it a step further, with much greater emphasis”.

He explained that the provision of infrastructure, modern equipment and the training of teachers for TVET institutions would encourage more students to pursue vocational education.

School Feeding

Touching on the School Feeding Programme, the former Northern Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service, affectionately called Cambodia, lauded the government’s directive for schools to use locally produced food, describing it as a more sustainable approach compared to the previous administration’s reliance on imported rice.

He intimated that the policy would help boost employment and increase incomes for local farmers across the country.

According to him, the initiative would also serve as a source of income for fisherfolk, poultry farmers and other actors within the local food value chain.

Alhaji Haroon, however, urged the government to sustain the gains and deepen stakeholder engagement to ensure that policies and programmes continued to reflect the needs and aspirations of the people.