Asiedu Nketiah urges journalists to report fairly at all times, and not based on politicians’ complaints

National Democratic Congress (NDC) Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has advocated for continuous policy implementation in Ghana. He urged successive governments to enhance successful programs instead of discontinuing them merely due to a change in political administration. Speaking at the 4th Bono Regional Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Awards in Sunyani, Asiedu Nketiah emphasized that abandoning effective policies simply because of different political leadership was unjustified.

He noted that governments often rename or restructure existing programs, spending additional public funds to achieve similar outcomes, thereby depriving the country of the full benefits of previous investments. The National Statistical Service reports a 6.0% annual GDP growth for the second quarter of 2026 and 5.0% inflation in August 2026.

Asiedu Nketiah stressed that economic improvement should result in better incomes, stronger businesses, and improved living conditions. Infrastructure investments should be evaluated based on the economic activity they generate. He used the Bono Region as an example, suggesting that road investments should be supported by measures to enhance agricultural processing, storage, logistics, and market access for farmers to maximize the value of their produce.

The same principle should apply to other sectors, with government planning ahead for population growth, urbanization, energy demand, housing, transport, and changing labor market skills. Asiedu Nketiah pointed out that Ghana had instances where good policies were abandoned while bad ones were defended for too long due to the difficulty in admitting mistakes in politics.

He urged political leaders to learn from past experiences and make decisions based on what benefited the country rather than political ownership, asserting that they should have the confidence to preserve what works, regardless of who initiated it. He reiterated that continuity did not imply retaining every program indefinitely but maintaining useful interventions while improving areas that needed change.

Asiedu Nketiah emphasized that such an approach was critical for Ghana, given the significant public resources already invested in development programs, which could not afford to start over repeatedly. He called on journalists to monitor government programs over time, track whether promises made by administrations translated into results, and maintain records that would enable citizens to assess development commitments years after their announcement.

By 5 years from now, it should be possible for someone to reconstruct what happened to the major development commitments made today using the media archives in Bono.