AKUFO-ADDO’S INCOMPETENCE DESTROYING MAHAMA’S FANTASTIC ACHIEVEMENTS

Nana Akufo-Addo’s election two years ago as President of Ghana was greeted with great enthusiasm, and expectation. Many Ghanaians saw Nana as a messiah who was going to make manna fall from the higher throne, and make Ghana the Mecca of Africa. He promised Ghanaians was coming to rescue them from years of economic disempowerment, corruption and insecurity.

Two years into his administration, pundits have been analysing his scorecard and asking whether he deserves another four years. What is clear is that, this time round, Nana’s reelection campaign is not going to be greeted with the same level of enthusiasm. Some political,financial experts and renowned pollsters have gone as far as to predict that he will lose the 2020 election.

Why this political misfortune? The answer seems to lie in the fact that most of the things Ghanaians complained about in 2016 are still unresolved or have deteriorated. The administration has failed to fulfil its promises. When it came to power in 2017, Nana promised to tackle three interrelated problems; corruption, insecurity and the economy. But the administration appears to have focused on less important issues and paid less attention on the three interrelated problems and the other promises he made on his campaign platforms. Because of the administration’s inability to implement an expansionary fiscal policy, implement capital projects, the economy has been grappling with anemic growth since Nana’s election.

I have seen posters of the next Bawumia lecture. Before he churn out his academic lies, the sociopolitical situation in Ghana has called for an overview to offer an insight into the true state of the nation. Regardless of what government and its propagandists and media allies are peddling in the media about the economy, the fact remains that it is the citizenry who are better positioned to evaluate governance based on their economic realities. All through the ages, people bear the brunt of governance, whether good, bad or ugly; they wear the shoe and know where it pinches.

In recent times, some government officials, propagandists, the President, and the man the President claims has all the wisdom on earth fixed in his brains ( Dr Bawumia), have taken turns to regale Ghanaians with their own version of the economic situation in the country. But most of those hired resources persons and speakers are only commenting from their own political lineages, instead of giving a true picture based on facts. Government should stop dancing around the facts and come out with a comprehensive policy. The scary truth is that the administration is losing out on the macroeconomy. In spite of all the beautiful stories being told about the economy, the country’s economy is not only in crisis, but has suffered massive compression in dollar terms. The stark reality staring us all in the face is a sure indication that the economy is only running backwards.

Government’s command and control measures and massive capital flight as a result of government’s bogus economic policies are responsible for the crisis the economy is going through. Workers are not spared from the economic woes, they have suffered double blow; declining average nominal wages, shrinking real wages and constant price increase of goods and services. Growth in credit flow to the industrial and other sectors has slowed down between 2017 and 2019 as compared to 2014 – 16 in spite of the challenges the Mahama administration faced as a result of drop in price of gold and other resources and heavy investment it made in the oil and gas sectors. Strikingly, the growth of credit flow to the manufacturing sector under the current administration has dropped compared to what was recorded under the Mahama administration. These facts clearly indicate that what government put out via its compromised agencies are empty slogans. Government feels safe hiding behind deceptive figures such as fake inflation figures. Yet it completely ignores the spurt in the prices of pulses and other essential commodities that have hugely impacted the poor. Unemployment has risen dramatically. In Accra, Kumasi and other regional capitals, it’s virtually impossible to find anyone who has a word of praise for Nana’s economic policies.

The next president or administration will inherit a state treasury plundered by kleptocrates.

In contrast to the adoring crowds of 2016, only hundred supporters waited for his speech at a recently held national event in Kumasi, his party’s stronghold.