Kwaku Kwarteng, Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament and MP for Obuasi West has attributed Ghana’s current economic crisis to decades of reckless public expenditure and mismanagement by successive governments.
In an interview with Accra-based JoyNews, the Obuasi West legislator noted that COVID-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are not solely responsible for the economic situation in the country.
“I am not with the school of thought that we were not going to experience a financial crisis but for these [Covid-19 and Russia-Ukraine War].
“The country was always going to have some financial crisis. It might have been delayed a little bit if COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war had not happened but the fact remains that with the path we were walking, we were definitely going to get here,” he said.
Mr. Kwarteng emphasised a persistent culture of overspending and a lack of fiscal discipline, stating that Ghana’s current situation is the culmination of decades of terrible politics and economic mismanagement.
“Overruns and reckless expenditure have become a culture,” he stated.
He believes that unless there is a fundamental shift in attitude and a commitment to budgetary responsibility, Ghana will become a failed state.
As a result, he urged for an open and honest examination of the bad cultural habits that have contributed to the current problem, as well as the development of long-term remedies for them.
“We have the laws and we’ve set up institutions that should help us deal with these, but no amount of legislation, no amount of institutional arrangements can stop a people determined to destroy themselves,” the Obuasi West lawmaker stressed.
Meanwhile, the government has over time blamed the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war for the economic challenges facing Ghana.