President, Nana Akufo-Addo
President, Nana Akufo-Addo has expressed disappointment in the claim by former President John Mahama that the current economic situation in the country is as a result of economic mismanagement.
He said of all the people who could speak about the country’s economy, he did not believe that Mr. Mahama could make such a claim considering his (Mahama) abysmal economic management record.
As far as the President is concerned, the country’s economy under former President Mahama from 2012 to 2016 was an “unmitigated disaster”.
President Akufo-Addo made the remarks at Hohoe during an interview on VOV Radio, 95.7, last Friday September 10, 2021. The interview kick started his day’s tour of the Volta Region.
Explaining further, he said, “I wonder whether this statement was made tongue in cheek by the former president… who can accuse my government of mismanagement. There are a few facts that when you put on the table to compare his performance and mine,” one can tell who offered better economic management.
“I wonder what words we should use to describe his (Mahama) stewardship of Ghana. It is an unmitigated disaster, that’s what I would call him,” the President continued.
He said the facts are clear and irrespective of how it is looked at, the NDC government cannot be compared with this current administration. Providing some facts, the President said under the tenure of John Mahama, the economic growth rate in 2016 stood at 3.4%, the lowest in 24 years; with all other macroeconomic indicators pointing in the wrong direction.
However the GDP moved up about 8 percent and an average of 7 percent prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added that “Inflation, when he left office, was 15.4%; today, at the end of July, which are the last hard facts from the Statistical Service, it’s 9%. Interest rates are always a good determinant of how the economy is operating, 32% in December 2016, today, it is 20.6%. We are talking about the Treasury bill decline in interest rate, we are talking about the trade deficit that was $1.8 billion in 2016, to a trade surplus of $2.6 billion at the end of 2019.”
He wondered that if these statistics, which, prior to COVID-19, led to Ghana being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, “can be considered economic mismanagement”, then what would be the description of the economy managed by John Mahama, which took Ghana into the embrace of the IMF?
He asserted that if former President John Mahama’s suggestion of an economic forum “is going to be a repetition of the so-called Senchi Consensus, then I think I have to spare the people of Ghana this sort of development.”
“The Senchi Consensus was an unmitigated disaster, out of it; we went into the embrace of the IMF with all the difficulties that came from there and the disarray it pointed to in the economy of our country,” he intimated.
President Akufo-Addo said he understands that the former President wants another opportunity to rule the people, but that should be done with facts and not conjecture and lies. He therefore urged the former President to be wary of commenting on matters to do with economic management, because he lacks a good appreciation of the issues.
“He is not on strong ground when he is talking about the economy. His track record, I am reluctant to use these strong words, but in normal parlance, I would say it abysmal and, therefore, he has no lessons to give me at all in the management of the economy,” President Akufo-Addo added.
From Fred Duodu, Hohoe (k.duodu@yahoo.com)