The Director of Communications of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Richard Ahiagbah has said that the position taken by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and their Minority in Parliament that the economy has not turned the corner is ridiculous and a testament to the danger the NDC poses to the economy.
Equally egregious, he said, is the inability of the NDC to offer a single workable solution, just opposition for the sake of it. It is as dangerous as it is unethical.
It is recalled that the Minority Leader Dr Cassiel Ato Forson told Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta that he has not turned the corner relative to the economic challenges.
Dr Forson said the Finance Minister rather deepened the economic woes of Ghanas with poor policies and programmes.
His comments come after Mr Ofori-Atta said that the government had avoided the unimaginable.
He told Parliament during the presentation of the 2023 mid-year budget review on Monday, July 31 that with a lot of effort, the government managed to avoid empty shop shelves for medicines and other essentials the country has seen no shortages of food;
“We have been spared the frustrating spectre of long queues for fuel at our filling stations; and, we have managed, in spite of all the challenges, to keep the lights on,” he said.
“Indeed, as the Psalmist said (in Psalm 118:23) this is the LORD’s doing; and it is marvellous in our eyes.
“This ‘turning the corner’ is underpinned by the investments and sacrifices we have
collectively made during this difficult period since March 2020,” he added.
Mr Ofori-Atta further said that it is important that we acknowledge some of the major milestones that this country has experienced in the last 3 years.
“We should be still and appreciate that despite our challenges as a country, we have been saved from many extreme conditions that others have suffered, including peace, health, security, continuous supply of power, and life itself, amongst others.
“Over that period, the country has gone through extremely difficult situations, and
the gratitude of His Excellency the President and his government goes to the good
people of Ghana for their patience, understanding and positive contributions to
Government’s efforts to weather the storm.”
Speaking on the floor of Parliament after the budget presentation, Dr Forson who is also te Member of Parliament for Ejumako Enyan Essiam said “Mr. Speaker, let our minister not say anywhere that he has turned the corner; he has rather deepened our woes.”
Reacting to these in a statement, Mr Ahiagbah said “The NDC has chosen deliberately to deceive Ghanaians to incite and make the government unpopular. This is unethical and extreme partisan behavior must be condemned.
“The idea that the mid-year revision of the macro-fiscal projections means that we have not turned the corner is very laughable. It simply does not make sense and should not be taken seriously. The NDC has zero ideas to contribute to how we build back from the ruins of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War. Fellow Ghanaians, this is evidence that if the NDC were in power today, Ghana would have been worse off. We must ask ourselves what ideas has the NDC contributed since the Covi-19 pandemic broke in 2020 and later the Russia-Ukraine War in 2022. The answer is that they have contributed zero original idea(s). Their communication strategy is simply to bastardize the genuine efforts of the government to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and the War on our economy.”
Below is his full statement…
Good Afternoon fellow Ghanaians. The NDC is perpetrating a communication fraud on us. They have taken a power-seeking position not to accept the reality of the global economy which is harsh everywhere and are denying the obvious progress being made toward recovery. Equally egregious is their inability to offer a single workable solution, just opposition for the sake of it. It is as dangerous as it is unethical.
Their rather ridiculous position that the economy has not turned the corner is a testament to the danger the NDC poses to the economy; because I know in their hearts they know we have turned the corner given the reported macro-fiscal data. For instance, the cedi depreciated only 1.84% from February to date compared with the frightening 54.1 depreciation we suffered in the spate of 2 or 3 months in 2022.
The NDC has chosen deliberately to deceive Ghanaians to incite and make the government unpopular. This is unethical and extreme partisan behavior must be condemned.
The idea that the mid-year revision of the macro-fiscal projections means that we have not turned the corner is very laughable. It simply does not make sense and should not be taken seriously.
The NDC has zero ideas to contribute to how we build back from the ruins of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War. Fellow Ghanaians, this is evidence that if the NDC were in power today, Ghana would have been worse off. We must ask ourselves what ideas has the NDC contributed since the Covi-19 pandemic broke in 2020 and later the Russia-Ukraine War in 2022. The answer is that they have contributed zero original idea(s). Their communication strategy is simply to bastardize the genuine efforts of the government to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and the War on our economy.
As a party and government, we have acknowledged the difficulties Ghana is going through and are working very hard to restore 2017, 2018, and 2019, 7% average GDP growth performance or better. Inflation is very high now, but when we took over from the NDC in 2016/2017, inflation started trending downwards, and apart from 2017, where we brought the inherited 15.4% inflation down to 12.3%, we successfully kept inflation below 10% for four fiscal years namely, 2018 @ 9.84%; 2019 @ 7.14%; 2020 @ 9.89% and 2021 @ 9.98%. This is our record.
Our humble appeal to Ghanaians is to bear with the government while we sort out the grave impact of Covid-19 and the War on our growth trajectory. Fellow Ghanaians, we have turned the corner, and we are en route to recovery so, let’s work together to bring back our economy. As for the NDC, they are suffering a crisis of ideas and as a result, are weaponizing the struggles of Ghanaians for their parochial political profit. The NDC has nothing to offer, if you like ask them what they would do if there in faced with this difficult global economy.
Good day, Ghana.