Frank Annoh-Dompreh
MAJORITY CHIEF Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, has taken a swipe at the Minority NDC in Parliament over calls for government to dissolve the Economic Management Team (EMT) due to the current economic challenges facing the country.
The NDC MP for Yapei Kusawgu, John Jinapor, who made the call last Friday, said the EMT has failed in its quest to help the government to tackle inflation and the depreciation of the Ghanaian currency against major trading currencies.
But in a quick response, Mr. Annoh-Dompreh said the NDC has no right to give the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lessons on the economy since the record of that party in government was abysmal.
“We accept that we are in difficult times. The NDC and Minority should not take political advantage of the situation and throw dust into the eyes of the people. Our worst is their best.
“To the extent that we have not run to the IMF, even after a global pandemic that is imposing serious difficulties on us, should tell you about our performance. They should not come and lecture us on our economy. We hope they will draw some lessons,” he told the media in Parliament.
He continued, “It’s interesting to know that the NPP’s worst, if there is anything like worse performance, is better than the NDC’s best performance, and the evidence is there when you look at the data and statistics. It is not far-fetched.”
“Ex-President Mahama went through difficulties and we criticised him, and we came to power on the heels of those criticisms. Currently, we have Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which is affecting the entire globe. We have COVID-19 which no country can absolve itself from.”
“We know the support and intervention that the government gave. I scanned the West African sub-region, and no government was feeding its citizens as the Ghanaian Government did. Utilities were almost free for a period of three months,” he posited.
Mr. Annoh-Dompreh, who is also the MP for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, said they were confident that government would find home-grown solutions to the difficulties facing the nation, asserting, “We do not want a situation where we would be told by the IMF in the face that public sector recruitment has to be halted for you to steer discipline into economic management.”
“We are confident we would be able to raise the needed revenue within [the country] for the long term. Ghana is setting a very good example. If we look at a country like Greece when they were facing harsh economic difficulties, they ran to the IMF.
“Just as Rwanda and few other African countries have said, they want to bite the bullet and face the reality and deal with it. I am proud the President has not pretended about it, and he had said they would do all they can to get over the fleeting challenges that we are facing as a country,” he stated.
BY Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House