The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has chastised the President Akufo-Addo-led government for blaming Ghana’s economic challenges on the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the Russia and Ukraine war.
According to Mr. Nketiah, who is popularly known as General Mosquito, available facts show that Ghana’s economy exhibited signs of challenges even before Covid-19 and Russia and Ukraine war.
He said this point was well articulated by the Country Director of the World Bank, Mr. Pierre Laporte.
“Incontrovertible facts show that Ghana’s economy showed signs of serious challenges even before Covid-19 struck, a point that was made by the Country Director of the World Bank, Pierre Laporte…,” the General Secretary said.
He made the comments at an address dubbed the “True State of the Nation Address”, which was held in Accra yesterday.
The address was used to counter the State of the Nation Address (SONA), which was delivered by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday March 8, this year.
Detailing some points to buttress his claims that the economy was facing challenges before the outbreak of the pandemic, Mr. Asiedu Nketiah noted that before the first case of Covid-19 was recorded in March 2020, the public debt had increased from GH¢120 billion in 2016 to GH¢225 billion in 2019, representing an increase of GH¢105 billion in the country’s debt stock. “Covid-19 was nowhere near the country, and [the] Russia and Ukraine had not thought of fighting,” the General Secretary said amid laughter.
He also indicated that Ghana’s debt to GDP ratio had increased from 56% in 2016 to about 70% in 2019, stating that figure was inclusive of the Daakye, ESLA bonds and other hidden bonds.
He continued that the debt servicing amount had also increased from GH¢11bn in 2016 to GH¢37bn, constituting 91% of tax revenue. “There was no Covid-19; no Ukraine and Russia, and the Queen was still alive, and no earthquake in Turkey,” Mr. Asiedu Nketiah said.
He added that the currency, before 2019, was plummeting in double digits, leading to the setting up of a committee to investigate the cause of the alarming depreciation of the currency.
The General Secretary noted yesterday that the Akufo-Addo-led administration rather benefitted from the Covid-19 by receiving a whopping GH¢30bn to mitigate it.
He, however, said that instead of the government expending the money on Covid-19, it rather engaged in profligate spending, including elections.
“Far from being the cause of economic collapse, Covid-19, in fact, brought the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government an unprecedented rainfall of about GH¢30bn to manage and mitigate the impact of the pandemic. Unfortunately, this was largely wasted on election-related expenses.”
Mr. Asiedu Nketiah said that according to the Auditor-General, only 11% out of the total money was spent on Covid-19-related expenditure, and the remaining amount being channeled into “so-called budget support.”
Another point he made to buttress his statement was that Covid-19 affected other countries too, but those countries managed their resources well, and that was why they were not experiencing the hardship that Ghana was experiencing.
At yesterday’s address, the Chairman also said that considering all the hardship the country was going through, the President’s claim of knowing how to revive a dead economy was a scam.
He said the assertion that Ghana would not go to the IMF was a scam, and so was the claim that there would be no haircut on bonds and investments.
“The promise to build 88 district hospitals within a year was a scam. The promise to abolish road toll was a scam. The promise to convert tollbooths into ultra-modern public toilets on our highways was a scam. The claim that there was a global shortage of measles [vaccines] was a scam…”
Mr. Asiedu Nketiah also indicated that President Akufo-Addo, based on the picture he painted with the SONA, was an indication that he was living in [a] world of his own and was not in touch with reality.
According to the General Secretary, the true SONA was “when a ball of kenkey, which was sold for 50 pesewas and GH¢1, was now being sold between GH¢4 and GH¢5. The state of Ghana was that a sack of maize, which used to sell for GH¢170 in 2016, was now being sold for GH¢900 as at February 2023. “The true SONA is where a bag of Gino rice (five kilos) which used to go for GH¢25 in 2016 is now being sold for GH¢85.|”
Mr. Asiedu Nketiah said such a government could not be allowed to continue to govern the country, and promised that the NDC would rescue the country from the abyss.
