Stop blaming  COVID-19  Pandemic on Ghana Economy Crisis - Mahama descends on Akufo-Addo

The Former President, John Dramani Mahama has sounded a word of caution to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and top shots of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to stop apportion blame to novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for being the contributory factor to the current economic crisis.

Mr Dramani Mahama who described himself as a historian stated that President Akufo-Addo and members of the NPP should accept that it is their mismanagement that has crippled the Ghanaians economy.

The former presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) insisted that mismanagement of the NPP and President Akufo-Addo is what has messed up the economy in the country.

He clearly stated that the reason the country is suffering economically is because of mismanagement and not necessarily the novel Coronavirus pandemic.

The 2020 flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said that the current government capitalized on the novel Coronavirus to spend recklessly during the 2020 elections.

According to him, while there is no doubt that the world has been harshly hit by the pandemic, in the particular instance of Ghana, the government has further depleted the resources of the country, using it as an excuse.

Describing their excuse as a “convenient whipping boy,” the former president explained that, it is the reason Ghana currently has its largest-ever budget deficit.

“COVID-19 has become the convenient whipping boy and has been cited as the reason for the crisis we face now and the attendant economic hardships. Yes, COVID-19 affected the economy, and no one can dispute that. It is however not the main reason why we are in the current hole we find ourselves. COVID-19 only became a pretext for reckless election-related spending, which produced the largest-ever budget deficit in the recent economic history of Ghana last year,” he explained.

Using examples of countries within the sub-region as his yardstick, the former president explained that it does not make sense for the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government to continue to make a case that the pandemic is what is affecting the economy of the country.

“A comparison with our neighbours and peers in Sub-Saharan Africa, all of whom were also affected by COVID-19, shows they have been able to protect their citizens from COVID-19 in ways that are similar to ours. They have however avoided increasing their debts and deficits because of more prudent management of their economies.

“This government must accept that it is their mismanagement of the economy, their thirst for consumption expenditure and the desire to spend beyond our means to win elections that have plunged us into the current crisis, not necessarily COVID-19,” he said.

Mr Dramani Mahama made this known at The State of Ghana’s Economy, The Scorecard, organized by the National Democratic Congress’s The Professionals Forum (PRO FORUM) in Accra, a statement from his office has said.

The former president addressed the forum with Seth Terkper, a former Minister of Finance, and Sam Pee Yalley, a former Ambassador to India, and the National President of PROFORUM.

Speaking at ‘The State of Ghana’s Economy, The Score card’, organized by the National Democratic Congress, The Professionals Forum (PRO FORUM) in Accra, John Dramani Mahama lamented how the country’s economy has ballooned, affecting all goods and services.

“Our debt has ballooned to unsustainable levels- topping 80% of GDP- exposing us to very high risk of debt default. Almost all of our tax revenue is used to service our debt and the effect has been the introduction of several new taxes. This has led to rampant increments in the prices of goods and services. This is primarily responsible for the hardships Ghanaians are going through now,” he said.

 Freeman Koryekpor Awlesu Greater Accra Regional Correspondent