Nana Akufo-Addo has lamented the
leadership crisis in Ghana and
accused President John Mahama’s
government of sending the nation’s
development backwards.
Addressing the UK Branch of the New
Patriotic Party (NPP)’s monthly
public meeting on Sunday in Wood
Green, London, the man vying to lead
the New Patriotic Party in 2016
described the situation in Ghana as,
“an era of retrogression.”
He added, “You may look at the
problems we are facing now and say
we have seen all of them before. But,
I have been around for sometime now
and I don’t remember the last time
we had all these problems hitting us
at the same time with such force. Ask
yourself, why?”
He stressed, “No water, no electricity,
no petrol, no money, no jobs, no
mercy,” to which the audience added,
“No World Cup victory!”
Nana Akufo-Addo, who was in
London for a week’s visit, told
Ghanaians in the city, “it seems
whatever the President touches turns
into dust. This is, indeed, an era of
retrogression. Everything about Ghana
appears to be going backwards.”
He cited the ill-fated foreign
exchange measures announced in
February as a typical example. “Even
when they try to fix the falling cedi,
they end up making it worse.
The cedi depreciation was worse in
the four months since February, when
the stricter rules were announced,
than in the previous 4 months. You
may ask yourself, why?”
He lamented how the government
lambasted his 2012 running mate, the
economist, Mahamudu Bawumia,
“when he warned them that it would
not work. He was insulted! Today,
Ghana’s cedi is the second worst
performing currency in the world.
Doing better than only the local
currency of conflict-hit Ukraine! Just,
ask yourself, why?”
With a chuckle, the seasoned
politician added to laughter from the
gathering, “Not even our favourite
past time, football, has been spared
this era of repression. Under
President Kufuor, we got through the
group stages. Under Mills we got to
the Quarter Finals. Under Mahama, we
expected to at least match our old
performances. But, we did worse in
Brazil than in 2006. Ask yourself,
why?”
Although, he said he did not agree
with the pressures the national
football team put on the authourities
to get paid before playing, he could
see how the public sympathised with
their concerns.
“I am not saying I support the way
the players held the nation to ransom
before our crucial match against
Portugal. But, were you surprised that
the Black Stars wanted cash in hand
before playing? It is because nobody
trusts this government to deliver on
its promises. This is the government
that finds nothing wrong when the
law has levied taxes on people for
those revenues to be paid directly in
statutory funds like the GETFUND,
District Assembly Common Fund, and
NHIS. If a government can refuse to
pay money to an institution the law
says it should, then how can we
expect the Black Stars to expect to be
paid on a word of promise from the
President?,” Akufo-Addo queried.
He said, the announcement by the
credit rating company, Moody’s last
Friday, was just the latest of how the
world had lost confidence in the
capacity of the government to
manage the economy.
Moody’s downgraded Ghana from B1
to B2, describing the outlook as
negative.
“What it means is that Ghana will now
pay more in interest rates to borrow,”
Akufo-Addo explained.
Source: Office of Nana Akufo Addo
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