The Akufo-Addo led administration is not running ‘yentie obiaa’ (we will not listen to anyone) government, the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr. Eugene Arhin has said.
On the contrary, he said the government welcomes concerns and reservations expressed by the citizenry in the interest of building the nation.
Mr. Eugene Arhin was responding to a question at the press briefing with the Presidential Press Corps, held yesterday at Jubilee House.
The former President John Mahama had made the statement that the Akufo-Addo government was not ready to be criticised. His reason was that the Director of Communications of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Yaw Buaben Asamoa, had responded in a rude way to the concerns raised by the Catholic Bishop Conference.
However, the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, had a contrary view of the position of the former president, using his own famous “yentie obiaa,” comment.
Mr. Arhin said, “My simple response to what you just said with respect to what the former President said is that, at least the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is not operating ‘yentie obiaa’ government.
“We listen to the concerns of everybody. We don’t come out attacking anybody for whatever concerns or reservations they have expressed.”
He continued that, ”indeed, all the Director of Communications for the NPP did was to state that the statement by the President of the Catholic Bishop Conference lacked clarity. He didn’t attack him. He just said if you could provide further and better particular about what in his opinion is the President’s lack of commitment to protect the public purse, just give us examples and let us on our own also respond to those examples you will cite. He didn’t attack the Catholic Bishop Conference; he didn’t attack the President of the Catholic Bishop Conference …Again, in democracy, all of us are entitled to our opinions. We put facts together and we just debate them. Bottom line is we are all looking for the good and development of mother Ghana. End of story.”
Response to the GCBC
In his address Mr. Arhin touched on the comments made by the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Reverend Philip Naameh, at the Catholic Bishops Conference held in Wa, capital of the Upper West Region.
The Catholic Bishop stated that “the expressed commitment of the president of the republic to protect the public purse, a promise that citizens welcomed, seems to be an illusion now.”
Conversely, Mr. Arhin, espousing the government’s position on the statement said that in as much as this administration is tolerant of divergent views, it believes these criticisms should bewell-grounded in fact.
He added that, “this is the only way an honest conversation, devoid of malice and propaganda, can be held.”
The presidential spokesperson maintained that President Akufo-Addo has fulfilled his pledge to protect the public purse and continues to do so.
He added that the transformation that has taken place in all aspects of national life point to an economy that has been well-managed, a public purse that is being well-protected and the benefits are showing.
He said if President Akufo-Addo had superintended over the wanton dissipation of public funds, the Ghanaian people would not have reposed their confidence in him by returning a decisive margin of victory for him in the 2020 elections.
He cited Free SHS, which now guarantees a minimum of senior high school education for all Ghanaian children, and has already granted access to SHS to over 400,000 more children, among other programmes and policies by this government.
COVID-19 on economy
Mr. Eugene Arhin told the Presidential Press Corps that in the midst of COVID-19, when most of the economies of the world found themselves in recession, Ghana’s was one of the very few that reported positive growth.
He said that high fuel prices, high freight charges, rising cost of living, are not Ghanaian phenomena, they are the order of the day across the globe, albeit unfortunate.
However, he opined that just as every country is confronted with these difficult challenges, largely as a result of the impact of COVID-19, Ghana, under President Akufo-Addo, is making every effort, through the Ghana CARES Obaatampa Programme, to alleviate the hardships brought forth by the pandemic.
“It is important to state that the Akufo-Addo government will continue to work for the development of Ghana, and help improve the standards of living of every Ghanaian. Far from being out of touch, the Government is highly focused on delivering on its mandate,” he added.
