President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo has expressed optimism of Ghana's economy to rebound soonest despite the prevailing economic challenges.
Addressing senior citizens at this year's Founders' Day luncheon in Accra on Thursday, President Akufo-Addo assured that the government would leverage the economic policy initiatives to drive growth and prosperity.
The government, he indicated, had outlined a series of economic measures, including seeking the assistance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in the short term, to help repair our finances.
The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Akufo-Addo stated, had greatly compromised the country's economy.
The President said since independence Ghana has not been able to exploit its vast potential compared to countries such as Korea and Malaysia which gained their independence at the same time as Ghana and has "outstripped us in terms of development".
President Akufo-Addo said despite the many obstacles that confronted the country, he was confident of the "can-do-spirit of the Ghanaian" to overturn the economic circumstances and challenges of the country.
He stated that the government would revive and revitalise the country's economy and put it back on the path of rapid growth.
President Akufo-Addo announced that he would honour citizens who distinguished themselves in service to Ghana, in particular in the roles they played in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
The formal ceremony to confer the awards, the President indicated, would be announced at a later date.
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The first category of awards, Order of the Volta Companion, The President disclosed, will go to 16 members of the national COVID-19 task force, 12 trustees of the Ghana COVID-19 private sector fund and the inventor of the veronica bucket.
Thirteen Ghanaians will receive the order of the Volta and, a member for the award for strategic and individual leadership. For operational excellence, 57 Ghanaians, including selected health sector workers, personnel from the Ghana Education Service, the Local Government Service and Security Services, will be awarded the grand medal, President Akufo-Addo noted.
The second category of awards, the Presidential Award of Honour for Meritorious Service, will have a total of 19,752 individuals comprising frontline and allied health workers, 32 religious bodies and institutions, and eight members of the COVID-19 National Trust Fund.
The remaining recipients, according to the President, are; "58 members of the technical support team of the COVID-19 private sector fund and 26 companies who change their production lines to manufacture hand sanitisers to lessen our dependence on imports."
President Akufo-Addo further said the country would also express gratitude to the legal team who represented Ghana in the maritime boundary dispute with Côte d'Ivoire, which ended in favour of Ghana.
President Akufo-Addo said he would confer the honour of the Volta companion on 12 members of the legal team while 19 other members of the team would receive the Presidential award of honour for meritorious service.
