Former President John Dramani Mahama has described the government’s attribution of the current economic challenges in Ghana to COVID-19 and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war as a ‘bloody lie.’
According to him, the Akufo-Addo led-government is deceiving Ghanaians about the cause of the crisis.
Addressing Executives of the USA Chapter of the NDC in Boston over the weekend, Mahama stated that, Akufo-Addo’s budget has always had ‘holes’ in it.
He explained, “I have accused the Finance Minister several times that he is doing creative accounting because there are huge liability numbers that he will never add to the budget.
“He puts them as appendixes, but when you add them to the budget he says I have a 4.5% deficit when you add them to the budget you find out that he is close to a 7.58% budget deficit.
“So there has always been a hole in the budget. If they tell you that it is COVID or Russia and Ukraine that has brought us to this situation, it is a bloody lie.”
John Dramani Mahama also raised concerns about the banking sector clean-up and the energy sector liability, something that he believes makes up the ‘hole’ in the budget.
“The fundamentals were already shaking, so you can do all the propaganda you want with the fundamentals, you know Covid will expose you,” he said.
The former President also touched on the recent report that flagship programmes under government were to be reviewed during a recent cabinet retreat at Peduase Lodge.
That report has been denied vehemently by the government after it was greeted with some criticisms.
Mahama noted how the government made a mockery of him and the NDC in 2020 when he suggested that he will review the free SHS policy when the party was elected.
“I said that when I come into office within 90 days of my administration I will call a stakeholders meeting and bring everybody who is a stakeholder in the education sector to review the Free SHS so that we can make it more efficient, cut out the waste and all that and of course, they did politics with it.
“One lawyer said review means cancel. Now they say all flagship programmes are up for review and so the question is, are they cancelling those projects? Because they are using the same word that I used,” Mahama stressed.
Ways of reviving the economy
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta at a press conference in Accra last Thursday explained that “the war in Ukraine could not have come at a worse time for the global economy.”
Ofori-Atta also underscored the devastation wreaked by the Coronavirus pandemic on the country’s economy.
Touching on ways to revive the economy the minister highlighted twelve points for cutting down public expenditure including a moratorium on the purchase of imported vehicles and foreign travels by public officials.
He also indicated plans to generate more revenue including impressing on Parliament to pass the E-levy.
Ofori-Atta also indicated plans to inject $2 billion into the economy in the next 2 to 6 weeks.
