Gov’t To Address 5 Concerns  About #fixthecountry – Ofori-Atta

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta has assured that the government will swiftly address some five concerns raised by the #fixthecountry campaign.

Addressing a press briefing today in Accra, Mr Ofori-Atta said the government will in the coming days address concerns of the #fixthecountry campaign including; unemployment, water shortage and congestion on major highways in the country.

He also acknowledged the concerns of the protest movement, calling for a collaboration “to solve the problems that face this country”.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, In the coming days, we will move swiftly to address some of the issues that the #Fixtheeconomy have raised. First, I am working with the Minister for Water and Sanitation to immediately ensure potable water to areas with felt need, especially in the most urban areas,” Mr Ofori-Atta said.

“Second, I am working with the Ministers of Roads and Highways, Transport and Interior to address congestion along the major highways.

“Third, we are fast-tracking the implementation of the US$200million Jobs and Skills Programme to enhance job creation significantly. This intervention is designed to facilitate new and expanded private sector businesses to employ a lot more people. This we believe is a more sustainable way to rebuild this economy instead of expanding Government employment schemes”.

He also stated that the government will be rolling out eight interventions under the Ghana Cares “Obaatanpa” programme.

“These will be in the Health, Agriculture, Tourism, Trade, Digitization, Science and technology, Housing and financial services.

“Fifth, by the end of July, we will have a new Development Bank that will provide long-term wholesale financing to the private sector through Commercial banks”.

What is #fixthecountry?

The #fixthecountry hashtag was started by popular Ghanaian Twitter influencer, KalyJay (whose real name is Joshua Boye-Doe) in reaction to push the concerns of citizens and demand accountability from the government.

Some celebrities and political activists later joined the campaign and the hashtag and its variants including #fixthecountrynow, #nameandshame, #fixitnow, #fixmotherghana have been at the top of the Twitter trends for over a week.

The tweets have expressed displeasure over successive government’s failure to improve the living standards of Ghanaians. Among the concerns include dumsor, unemployment, galamsey, and poor healthcare systems which they cite as proof of successive governments’ mismanagement of the country.

The conveners intended to gather supporters for a demonstration at the Black Star Square in Accra on May 9, 2021 but had to alter their plans after the Ghana Police Service secured an injunction against it.

The conveners are at the Supreme Court challenging the injunction with the hearing scheduled for June 8, 2021.