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Deputy Information Minister James Agyenim says all is set for President John Evans Atta Mills to address the country through Parliament in his fourth State of the Nation Address Thursday.
President Mills is expected to talk about his achievements in the past three years and the remaining year on his first term ahead, particularly, steps he intends to take to intensify the war against corruption. President Mills would also spell out his plans to execute key projects in this election year.
Members of Parliament had Tuesday threatened the president with a boycott unless he determines their salaries and emoluments.
However, it is certain President Mills has averted the boycott by parliamentarians. The president is said to have yielded to the pressure and committed himself to a March 1st deadline for a resolution of the MPs grievance. This is the outcome of a meeting between the leadership of Parliament and President Mills on Wednesday.
Majority Leader Cletus Avoka was in the meeting and told Evans Mensah on Joy FM’s Top Story Wednesday that the president appreciated the condition of service of MPs and office holders as stipulated under Article 71.
He said, to avoid the pitfall that the MPs and other office holders under Article 71 encountered some years back, President Mills directed that salaries and emoluments under this constitutional provision must be addressed holistically before the end of the year.
Moreover, Deputy Information Minister James Agyenim-Boateng said, it would be “most unfortunate” should the MPs carry through their threat to boycott the address.
“I don’t think that will happen,” he doubted.
The event is a constitutional duty, he assured, stating, “come what may he will go and present his address even to a section of the house”.
He stated that the President is “committed to the welfare and well-being” of parliamentarians, citing, the refurbishing of the "Job 600" building as offices for MPs as a sign of that commitment.
On the Prof. Ewurama Addy committee’s report on salaries and emolument for MPs and Article 71, Agyenim-Boateng said the president would work on the report at the time he “considers appropriate”.
Meanwhile, the Communications Director of the CPP, Nii Armah Akomfrah, says the president must "show the true state of the nation".
PNC Chairman Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan expects the president to outline his successes but should be candid about targets not met.
NPP General Secretary Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie says he is not expecting anything new.
Policy analyst and lecturer at Ashesi University Dr. Lloyd Amoah said infrastructural development has been a major achievement of the government, with corruption being one of the challenges it has failed to tackle appropriately.
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