Akufo-Addo’s Gov’t Cannot Be All Wrong! – Nana Akomea To Mahama
Nana Akomea, former Chief Executive of InterCity State Transport Corporation (STC), has President John Dramani Mahama and the Majority in Parliament to be fair about the true state of Ghana’s economy.
The former STC boss, commenting on the President’s 1st State of the Nation Address, punched holes in the account by the President regarding the economy his government inherited from the Akufo-Addo administration.
Ghana, A Crime Scene
President John Mahama, in one of his addresses on the state of the economy, referred to Ghana as a “crime scene”.
“One thing that is a cardinal principle for us is to tell the truth at all times, we all knew the economy was in crisis but some of the things I am discovering myself, I mean it’s being a criminal handling of our economy”.
“Ghana is a crime scene actually because how a government can have been so reckless? I cannot understand but we are faced with the reality and our options are very few”, he said while speaking to trade unions regarding their demand for an increment in their salaries and wages.
Economy in Bad Shape
The President also asserted during his maiden nation’s address that the economy he inherited is in a very bad condition.
“I am sad to report that our state of the nation is not good…When I decided to run for President again, I did so because of what I knew about the state of our country. I was aware that huge problems awaited me upon assumption of office but nothing could prepare anyone for the reality of the depth to which our economy and our governance had sunk.
“Our elders say that a frog’s true length can be ascertained only after it has died and how right they were. It is common knowledge that our economy is in dire straits.”
The President further noted; “After initial assessment of the books, we have discovered that our economic problems are much deeper than was previously known. We have inherited a country that is broken on many fronts. The profundities of the challenges confronting us are staggering. We are saddled with staggering debts and glaring signs of almost deliberate and in some cases reckless mismanagement of our resources.”
“Mr. Speaker, not even the restraints of an IMF programme were enough for the previous economic managers to exercise prudence in managing our finances. After setting an inflation target of 18 percent by the end of 2024, the actual outturn was 23.8 percent, significantly higher than the threshold agreed with the IMF.
“The Ghana cedi continued its downward slide losing 19 percent of its value against the dollar in 2024. It had already in the previous year lost 27.8 percent of its value. In addition to the public debt which amounts to a staggering 721 billion cedis, several State-owned enterprises are also in debt including the ECG which owes GHC 68 billion”, he also revealed.
Be Fair
Nana Akomea has asked the Mahama government to be objective stressing it cannot be that everything the Akufo-Addo government did was wrong.
“It cannot be all wrong…Of course, it cannot all be right but it cannot also all be wrong”, he said on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” show.
“We, politicians, need to be fair”, he added.
Source: Ghmessenger.com
