The world is in a turmoil and even advanced economies are running helter-skelter as the repercussions of the ongoing hostilities in the Middle East reverberate across the globe.
Options are being sought as the end of the conflict for now remains indeterminable, especially as the US President’s “it will continue for as long as it takes” response pierces the ears of followers of the unfolding developments.
Are our political leaders in charge of managing the affairs of the country still living in fool’s paradise and therefore pretending nothing is at stake?
We won’t pretend not to know they appreciate the enormity of the challenges confronting the global economic tapestry.
They have already been embarrassed by their hypocritical response to the Russia-Ukraine war when they said cynically that we are immune to the hostilities in far away Ukraine and Russia, as the remark is regurgitated from internet archives.
The absurd propaganda has fallen flat on its belly as they are faced with the fallouts from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the disruption of the international crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar, including other major oil and LNG plants in the Middle East, have been shut down, the effects hitting boardrooms of international businesses in Asia, Europe and America.
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) CEO is reported to have stated that Ghana has enough fuel cover for five months.
If this remark is intended to assuage fears of imminent crisis, he has failed to achieve this goal and rather played out a propaganda gimmick.
There is imminent danger for fuel supply in the country as the war persists. We won’t behave as they did when they were in opposition and claimed that global shocks have no effects on local economy. We would rather push them to wake up and apologise to their compatriots for their irresponsible theory of “no bombs are being dropped here” so the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government had no excuse to claim Ghana, like others on the global plane, suffered from the external shocks.
Let them wake up and think out options in the face of what could turn out to be a long haul conflict which has seen the price of crude oil rising to a high of $100 per barrel.
What options are being explored to contain the challenges which have dawned upon the world already?
Are they so embarrassed by their initial theory that what happens elsewhere should not have effects on the local ambience that they are unable to speak to the unfolding challenges?
Ghanaians deserve to be engaged now about the possible challenges lest government is confronted with an impossible task of making sense in their communication, the earlier theory is still in the minds of people.
With government not in a position to absorb the shocks of the fallen price of cocoa on the world market and, therefore, carried out a mandatory price haircut for farmers, it would be necessary to know whether same would be administered to Ghanaians as a result of the turmoil in the Middle East and its repercussions.