While the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) were critical of the address saying it contained a plethora of promises, the National Democratic Party (NDP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC) lauded the President and called on Ghanaians to support the government to implement its programmes to enhance the well-being of Ghanaians.

The political parties spoke to the Daily Graphic in separate interviews.

CPP

The General Secretary of the CPP, Nana Yaa Akyempim Jantuah, wondered why the address did not give a true reflection of the state.

Ms Jantuah was of the view that President Akufo-Addo should have taken into account the country’s current economic challenges and offered some words of hope but rather spent over 30 minutes talking about COVID-19.

She said there appears to be an effort to blame everything on COVID-19, but indicated that other countries too suffered from the pandemic but had found innovative ways to stabilise and revive their economies.

She said the President also failed to touch on the Saglemi Affordable Housing project and Affordable Housing project at Asokore Mampong which remained largely unoccupied.

Ms Jantuah said she was mortified by President Akufo-Addo’s silence on the tidal waves in the Ketu South area of the Volta Region but rather extended his condolences to the bereaved families and victims of the Appiatse explosion.

PPP

The Director of Communications of the PPP, Mr Emmanuel Felix Mantey, said the President failed to touch on the real hardships Ghanaians were going through at the moment.

“If you take the SONA as it was presented by the President, for some of us, we can say the President came to offer more pledges and promises to the people of Ghana,” he said.

Mr Mantey said considering the hardships facing Ghanaians, the economy should have been the key theme in Wednesday’s State of the Nation Address and offered more details aimed at mitigating the situation.

He said going forward, the standard of the State of the Nation Address and its content should be raised to reduce the rhetoric and reflect the true conditions of Ghanaians.

NDP

The Secretary General of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Alhaji Mohammed Frimpong, for his part, said President Akufo Addo’s address touched on “almost everything”, and called on Ghanaians to support the government to implement its programmes and policies to the benefit of Ghanaians.

He said no government could function efficiently without communicating with its citizens and urged the government to take steps to improve its communication strategies.

He also called on the government to promote community and citizens' participation in local governance to empower citizens to participate in government programmes and policies.

PNC

The General Secretary of the PNC, Janet Nabla, said the PNC was fully aware of the current hardship the ordinary Ghanaian was going through and said the President did acknowledge the difficulty the country found itself.

She said the President attempted to address the major concerns of the nation.

She implored the opposition political parties, civil society organisations and all well-meaning Ghanaians to join hands with the government to bring the economy back on track through constructive criticisms.