Former President John Dramani Mahama attacked President Akufo-Addo over unprecedented corruption in his administration.
According to Mahama, Nana Akufo-Addo promised to protect the public purse once he became President however, the purse can now not even be found anywhere.
The former one-term President made the comments during an appearance at the grand durbar to mark the climax of the Asogli Yam Festival at Ho in the Volta region, held over the weekend.
“The NPP government has completely lost control of the fight against corruption. President Akufo-Addo in his inaugural address promised to protect the purse. Today, that public purse cannot be found. Revelations in the Auditor General report for 2021 are only a microcosm of the seeming institutionalization of corruption under this administration,” Mahama lamented.
“I am using this festival to draw attention to this important national issue that requires the support of all citizens. Economic difficulties in the country are unbearable. Cost of living has increased significantly because of rising inflation. Prices are changing in the market every day, and this makes it difficult for the ordinary Ghanaian to survive,” he added.
Bawumia Sets the Record Straight
Despite the ex-President’s complaints, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia clearly outlined the factors causing the current economic crises hitting not just Ghana but the world at large.
Dr Bawumia listed the factors as three major crises – the government’s banking sector reform, the COVID-19 global pandemic, and the recent Russia/Ukraine crisis.
The Vice President laid out the facts during a speech Wednesday, August 17th 2022.
According to him, the government had to take the difficult decision to invest a whopping $7bn to save the banking sector after inheriting a compromised financial crisis from the NDC – a difficult and financially detrimental decision that was necessary to save the deposits of over 4 million Ghanaians.
“We had to undertake a major banking crisis reform that we consolidated a number of banks. At that time, 2018/2019, this cost almost $7 billion to the country in order to save the banking system. Now the choice that was available was that either you let the banking system collapse or you save it, there was really no middle way.
“We also had COVID coming the end of 2019 and we had the worst economic depression since the 1930s and COVID had its major impact.
“We had the worst economic depression since the 1930s in the global economy. Of course from the President’s point of view at the time of Covid-19, the emphasis was on saving lives and not on fiscal discipline. So yes, we focused on saving lives at great fiscal cost,” he said.
“Before we could know it, Russia and Ukraine also came to add to our troubles and we are dealing with those issues,” Bawumia continued.
Source: theGhanaianVoice.Com
