Former president John Mahama has accused President Nana Akufo-Addo of being reckless with the management of the economy.
He was reacting to the president’s claim in his state of the nation address that his government has not been reckless in the management of the economy, borrowing and spending.
Addressing Parliament on Wednesday (8 March) in his 2023 State of the Nation Address, Akufo-Addo said: “Let me state emphatically that we have not been reckless in borrowing and in spending. It is worth noting that the debts we are servicing were not only contracted during the period of this administration.”
According to him, his government has spent prudently on urgent needs of the country such as roads and schools.
“We have spent money on things that are urgent, to build roads and bridges and schools, to train our young people and equip them to face a competitive world. Considering the amount of work that still needs to be done on the state of our roads, the bridges that have to be built, considering the number of classrooms that need to be built, the furniture and equipment needs at all stages of education, considering the number of children who should be in school and are not, considering the number of towns and villages that still do not have access to potable water, I daresay no one can suggest we have over borrowed or spent recklessly.
Mahama disagrees and makes the point that the president is always quick to shift blame instead of taking responsibility. According to him, that explains why the president does not appreciate the extent of the challenges confronting Ghana today.
“The first principle of leadership is responsibility. You must take responsibility for every situation and work to solve it,” Mahama said. “If you are a leader who is always looking for somebody to blame, you will never be able to solve problems.”
Mahama, who was speaking during an interaction with branch and constituency executives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at Jema in the Kintampo South constituency said the Akufo-Addo government has increased the total national debt from GHC120 billion to almost GHC600 billion in about six years.
The former president who is contesting to lead his party to the 2024 elections maintained that the president and his administration have been reckless.
“What is more recklessness than what he and his finance minister have done?” he asked.
Mahama said the government’s attention was drawn to the increasing rate of borrowing by the Minority in parliament, saying for every budget they brought from 2018 they were cautioned against the overborrowing.
“Even the World Bank told them that you are risking going into debt distress because of too much debt, and they refused to listen. Today, exactly what they were warned against is what has happened. And you will not take responsibility?”
Ghana is trying to restructure most of its public debt, estimated at GHC576 billion (US$45 billion) at the end of November. Local bondholders have been asked to voluntarily exchange 130 billion cedis of debt for new bonds that will pay between 8.35% and 15% interest, compared with an average of 19% on old bonds.
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