The worsening economic situation in Ghana is beginning to attract discomfort even for those who have hitherto been modest in their criticisms of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
On Sunday evening during the 35th Convention of the Christian Action Faith Ministries (Action Chapel), the gloomy economy situation forced Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, the General Overseer of Action Chapel, to explode with consternation, challenging President John Dramani Mahama and his lieutenants to οΏ½free the economyοΏ½.
οΏ½Free the economy; let some money be in our pockets. Mr. Chief of Staff, move some things, move some things!οΏ½ Archbishop Duncan-Williams lashed out at a befuddled President Mahama and his Chief of Staff, Prosper Douglas Kweku Bani who were present at the churchοΏ½s convention.
οΏ½You have the mandate, take some decisions. Minister of Finance, free the economy! Pay the contractors, pay some people,οΏ½ the charismatic cleric challenged the Mahama Administration in an extremely charged voice.
President Mahama and some key government officials had apparently stormed the Action Chapel to seek divine intervention regarding the shrinking economy, but instead received a fair dose of tongue-lashing from the enraged Archbishop.
οΏ½οΏ½We want the economy to move; we want to feed our children, pay their school fees, and provide for our families, live decent livesοΏ½Just fix the economy. Feed us, Feed us!οΏ½
The Mahama Administration has been widely criticized for its faulty priorities and policies that have led to mounting public debts and a plummeting macro-economic indicators that have forced the government to cut subsidies, hike prices and introduce additional taxes.
Economists have asserted that these factors are the consequent causes of the dire economic predicament recently being faced by both the government and individuals in the country.
οΏ½οΏ½.We donοΏ½t care who is in office, we donοΏ½t care which party is in office, as long as we can pay our childrenοΏ½s school fees, as long as we can solve the problems of traffic on our roads,οΏ½ the highly vocal cleric charged the Mahama Administration.
It is unclear how the Mahama Administration will turn the situation around given the public debt it finds itself neck-deep in.
Public Debt
Latest figures from the Bank of Ghana indicate that the countryοΏ½s public debt had hit GHοΏ½46.1 billion as at the end of September this year, constituting about 54 percent of the countryοΏ½s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Experts have warned that debt levels of that nature could collapse the economy, noting that the levels are inching closer to the critical 60 of GDP. That mark has been classified by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank οΏ½as dangerously highοΏ½.
But the Governor of the Central Bank appears not to be alarmed by the trend.
Answering questions from journalists at a meeting to review the health of the economy last week, Governor Dr. Kofi Wampah said the public debt has not reached levels that should raise any concerns. οΏ½Studies have shown that even for Ghana, we will still be sustainable depending on what the debt is used for,οΏ½ he assured.
But critics think otherwise, blaming such compounding debts and budget deficit on a government having an unbridled appetite for overspending.
Mismanagement
Experts, including Albert David Osei, a former Country Director of the World Bank, reason that the economic dilemma of Ghana is not much about people not having money in their pockets, but the fact that the political leadership of the country has displayed a gross lack of efficient management of the countryοΏ½s resources.
οΏ½At the end of the day, in Ghana, it is not money that is the biggest constraint, it is managing things efficiently,οΏ½ stated Mr. Osei on current affairs programme- οΏ½TarzanοΏ½s TakeοΏ½ on Multi TV Sunday.
οΏ½I donοΏ½t think anybody will believe me if I told them the monies granted to Ghana [from donor partners] for public sector reform as of now must exceed $400 million,οΏ½ stated the economist who has been a Resident Representative of the World Bank in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
He said management is about priorities, and therefore counseled GhanaοΏ½s decision makers to stop going for budgetary support from the World Bank for everything.
Source: Raphael Ofori-Adeniran/D-Guide
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