John Mahama
What is ex-President John Dramani Mahama saying that the marvelous economic performance chalked up by President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is as a result of his prudent economic measures put in place during his term in office?
Mr. Mahama is obviously on an ego trip, suffering from delusions of grandeur. What prudent economic measures did he put in place during his reign? The untold economic hardships Ghanaians endured during his poor leadership were beyond measure. The economy under the regime of ex-President Mahama was characterised by incompetent economic management, corruption, create, loot and share, chewing all the meat and leaving only bare bones for his successor to pick up, low industrial growth and agricultural output.
Now, under the visionary leadership of President Akufo-Addo, the economy is thriving, growing beyond 7% as opposed to the all-time low of 3.6% in 2016 when Mr. Mahama and his NDC were exiting office. By virtue of the fantastic economic management skills of the President, the agricultural sector is growing at an incredible rate due to his far-sighted introduction of Planting for Food and Jobs. For the first time, Ghana is exporting food to its neighbouring countries.
Unemployment was at an all-time high during ex-President Mahama’s regime resulting in graduate unemployment. Now President Akufo-Addo has created more jobs for over 100,000 formerly unemployed graduates, more jobs in the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative and more jobs in the forestry and health sector. Besides, President Akufo-Addo has restored teacher training and nursing allowances.
Under Mr. Mahama’s watch, inflation rate was over 15%. Now, under the efficient management of President Akufo-Addo, it is hovering around 9%. Lending rate under Mr. Mahama was over 32% while under President Akufo-Addo it is just 15.2%
Total public debt under ex-President Mahama was GH¢122 billion from a very low level of just $9 billion left behind by former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
Whereas ex-President Mahama introduced many ‘nuisance’ taxes, including taxation on condoms and farming implements such as machetes, President Akufo-Addo has abolished them and also abolished taxes on the earnings of ‘kayayees’ (domestic porters).
Instead of growing the economy as the visionary leader President Akufo-Addo has done with his introduction of One-District One-Factory and One-Village One-Dam initiatives, the NDC government under the clueless leadership of Mr. Mahama were busy littering the country with filling stations and filling their pockets with money.
They complain of hardship in Ghana. What hardship are they talking about? Is it the hardship of the NDC members who no longer have the opportunity to create, loot and share or the hardship of the vast majority of Ghanaians whose children are now enjoying the Free SHS programme introduced by the Akufo-Addo government?
The National Health Insurance Scheme introduced by the NPP government under former President Kufuor which went comatose under the bad leadership of ex-President Mahama with over GH¢ l billion debt, had now been revived and given a clean bill of health under the able leadership of President Akufo-Addo.
Ex-President Mahama said he had done the entire infrastructure in the country but everywhere you go people are complaining of bad roads and dilapidated bridges. Now contractors who were given contracts in the last days of Mahama’s reign without caring a hoot about how to pay them are now being paid and the bad roads and bridges being fixed.
Under the incompetent leadership of Mr. Mahama, Ghanaians lived in darkness for four long years due to ‘dumsor’ (erratic power supply) and businesses were collapsing like a pack of cards.
Now, President Akufo-Addo has restored light to the people and businesses are flourishing. He has done all that and many more less than three years and by the time he finishes his first term in office he would have done much more and Ghanaians would be dwelling in the house of the competent Nana ‘SHOW BOY’.
Clearly, ex-President Mahama is a spent force in Ghanaian politics. He knows it and instead of staying in his small corner and licking his wounds, he is behaving like a spoilt child who has lost his ball and whimpering and crying for it to come back. His bloated ego has been deflated and he is not going to get a second bite at the Presidency by Ghanaians who don’t have short memories contrary to what he thinks.
By Kwesi Krafona