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The State of our Nation Ghana is still one of a nation made poor by clueless, mediocre leadership, unprepared to meet the challenges of the day and to use forward looking vision and self-determination to overcome the challenges we face. Our nation is led by a President who has found himself in leadership through the backdoor and hence without adequate preparation and appreciation for the effort required to make this nation overcome the tyranny of the ruling class and poverty in all of its forms. Our nation is a country divided along ethnic lines and by politics of hate and winner takes all. Ghana is locked in a death struggle between the NDC and the NPP and which struggle defined every problem and opportunity in the land. The State of the Nation is one where the leadership is disputed through an election that is discredited and the results contested in the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court. When the President sidesteps this and says, �Mr. Speaker, our recent Presidential and Parliamentary elections have been adjudged by both Domestic and international observers as by far the most credible, transparent, free and fair since 1992. This shows that each step of our democratic journey has been marked by improvements. As Ghanaians, we must be proud of this achievement,� then he wants to play games with the people and one that is dangerous. There is political tension in the land and as a result, many business and economic interests are on hold pending the outcome of the disputed presidential election. Whatever the outcome, these four years will not provide the confidence the presidency needs to push through the kind of agenda needed to make Ghana a high performing economy. The State of the Nation is one coming from a prior year 2012 where the country inched closer once again to unsustainable foreign and domestic debt fueled by election spending ostensibly to �buy� votes. This has made the economy vulnerable. Ghana in 2012 had worse-than-expected deficit out turn that triggered a 40 per cent increase in the stock of public debt, which went up from GHC 24 billion (42.6 percent of GDP) in 2011 to GHC 33.5 billion (46.7 percent GDP) in 2012. The President, John D. Mahama, presented a State of the Nation address that denied this situation and pretended that all is well. The State of the Nation is one of high petroleum prices, unstable power supply and water supply that is unreliable at best. Yet, the President�s address ignored this situation by not providing a solution to be relied upon. Petroleum pricing was completed ignored by the President. Obviously he does not have a solution or is unwilling to confront the impact and effect of the recent rise in petroleum prices that has imposed hardship of all types on the working poor in Ghana. During the 2012 elections, the PPP promised to implement national solutions "with a sense of urgency". Now President Mahama has discovered the need for �urgency�. He talked about adding kindergarten to the public school system; the election of district chief executives at the local level; implementing the compulsory element in FCUBE; building a sports facility in every district; and using the purchasing power of government to support local enterprises. But we are not buying any of this. There is no doubt about the need for fundamental change on all fronts to change our fortunes in Ghana. The President did not present us the sincerity that would enable us to believe that he will or can implement these initiatives. A look at the NDC manifesto presented for the 2012 elections shows clearly that the President lacks the foundation strong enough to compel him to implement these PPP promoted initiatives �with a sense of urgency�. The President and the NDC blame the difficulties they are facing in managing the economy on the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Scheme. When in Ghana especially since 1993 did the wage bill not present a challenge to the ruling administration? We should say to the NDC, �enough of the excuses!� Single Spine did not just happen. Election spending to buy votes is what has made the economy become precarious and has put our future in danger despite record levels of government revenue including the contribution from oil and gas. The budgetary challenge is gross mismanagement not as the President put it, �Mr. Speaker, the challenge facing us now is a misalignment of the expenditure categories in the Budget namely, emoluments (i.e. wages, salaries and allowances), goods and services (including debt service), and investment or capital expenditure. This is attributable to the following critical factors. It is important to appreciate the fact that the personnel emoluments portion of the Budget has more than tripled in the last three years, from GH�2.5 billion to about GH�8 billion this year. This has been mainly due to the Single Spine Salary Scheme (SSSS). We now spend a staggering 60.9 percent of our entire national revenue to pay public sector salaries.� Empty promises and an ungodly approach to push our hopes and problems to �divine� and unforeseen circumstances will not help President Mahama or the NDC. These are empty promises with no road map, deadlines or words that show appreciation for what it will take for implementation to happen: 1. That I shall work to ensure that every household in this country will soon enjoy uninterrupted water and power supply; 2. That our young minds desirous of opportunities for basic and secondary education shall have the space in our schools and shall have quality, affordable education that will improve their career and life expectations; 3. That our mothers shall live longer and healthier as they perform the God-given function of child-birth; 4. That our inner cities shall witness significant renewal in sanitation and housing 5. That the economic opportunities of this country will be open to all our citizens irrespective of gender, ethnicity, religion or political affiliation. 6. That our governance systems shall deliver the services and opportunities we promise to the citizens of Ghana; and 7. That our citizens will assume their right to demand accountability for these services and rights and that our roads infrastructure is not only expanded but also made safer for our people.� All these are empty promises. We remain wide awake to see how the president delivers on these promises. PPP, Still Awake! Kofi Asamoah-Siaw National Secretary