In his early days of assuming office, the Finance Minister is reported to have indicated that they have done better than the Mills/Mahama NDC administration. At a UK Town Hall meeting, Hon. Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam trumpeted that "on the economy, our record is better than their record. In terms of the size of the economy, we've done better than them. On per capita income, we've done better than them. On job creation, we've done better than them. On economic growth, we've done better than them."
He failed to give the actuals that made the NPP better than the NDC on the economy. The NDC remained the only government on record to have produced double digit economic growth of 14.05 percent in 2011. By the time the NDC was leaving office in 2016, economic growth over the entire period was 6.5 percent. This is far higher than the NPP’s average of 4.6 percent in seven years. Again, youth unemployment, according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), stood at 7.5 percent but is currently at 14.7 percent. Other indicators like inflation, currency depreciation, and debt to GDP put the Nana/Bawumia government miles below the NDC’s "macho" performance.
Despite being so boastful, I thought Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam was coming in with renewed hope to resuscitate an ailing economy. He was so definite in Landon, urging Ghanaians to observe how the cedi will improve against the dollar. "Watch the cedi against the dollar after tomorrow. Let's watch it and see if the confidence will come. The investors will return to Ghana, and the growth trajectory will even become clearer for all of us."
On the day (June 24, 2024) the Finance Minister made these declarations, a dollar was trading for GH¢14.49, but now (August 7, 2024) it is trading at GH¢15.02. This is according to the Bank of Ghana (BoG). The forex bureaus give worse results. The cedi has depreciated about 26 percent from the beginning of the year to date.
Clearly, the Hon. Minister's assessment of the economy was so wrong. The pepper that was put in his eyes has been completely removed, and now he is beginning to see the damage it has caused to the Ghanaian economy. Instead of his usual attacks on the NDC and John Mahama, he has now found a reason to apologize to Ghanaians for the hardships he and his government have visited on us.
“I would like to appeal to the people of this country to forgive us. It is never the intention of any government to impose hardships on its people, more so the NPP government, which has demonstrated that we want to reduce the burden of the Ghanaian people,” he said.
This apology was necessitated by the hardships the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) put Ghanaians through. He said. "It was a necessary and important decision at the time. If we had avoided it, our development or economy would not be what it is today. All the support you gave us during the DDEP has contributed largely to the recovery our economy is seeing today."
It was even strange for any sound mind to compare the Nana/Bawumia administration to that of Mills/Mahama. Never have we experienced a debt exchange in the history of Ghana, but this government has put us through it, with lots of people losing their investments and others proceeding to commit suicide. The late John Kumah was categorical in telling us that the government cannot pay its debts, and even if creditors go to court and judgment is awarded, the government cannot still pay. This is the true assessment of the economy, and Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam should have long known this if mischief was not intended.
Maybe the conclusion of the debt exchange with our creditors, both foreign and local, must have caused the Finance Minister to hastily declare that the NDC cannot campaign on the economy. The currency he asked us to check has not stopped depreciating, and the economic hardships have kept prolonging.
Instead of telling us they have given up on the economy, he chose to issue an apology, but any critical mind will observe that the minister has joined his boss, President Nana Addo, in giving up on the economy. This is true because his hopes of “restoring the value of cedi” have not yielded the desired results despite the ongoing debt defaults.
It is now for Ghanaians to decide on December 7 who they feel is competent enough to restore the economic dignity we are yearning for. Will they restore the experienced John Mahama, who was booted out of power through the NPP's pandemic propaganda in 2016, or will they maintain a failed government whose flagbearer is known to never accept any responsibility for the economic misfortunes we are facing?
Credit: Taluta Mahama
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