Akufo-Addo has refused to acknowledge the pervasive complaints of economic hardship in the country – Mahama

Ex-President John Dramani Mahama has fired the President Akufo-Addo administration again, describing it as a tragic government for feigning ignorance at the dire economic hardship their policies have driven Ghanaians into.

He said the government and its agents are using “spirited linguistic acrobatic” to attempt to cover up the complaints of hardship across the country.

“We have a government completely unwilling to acknowledge the problems and even begin the processes to address them,” said the former President and the 2020 presidential candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Mahama fired the salvo at the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration as he officially wrapped up his nationwide ‘Thank You’ tour with a controversial lecture at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra on Wednesday.

He fired several shots at the governing New Patriotic Party administration in what is certain to generate hot debates in Ghana in the coming days.

According to Mahama, the Akufo-Addo administration has refused to acknowledge the pervasive complaints of economic hardship in the country and has resorted to wishing the problem away with “sloganeering, public relations, populism, divisive rhetoric, and plain political deception.”

“The most pressing problem is the impact of the ailing economy on livelihoods, prospects and dreams. The consequences of misguided priorities in economic management have led to unbearable hardship, high unemployment and the frustration and despair felt by millions of the youth,” said Mahama whose administration had been roundly criticised by the then-opposition NPP for similar economic hardship.

However, critics surmise that despite its promises to relieve Ghanaians from the reported hardship during the Mahama administration, the Akufo-Addo administration has been worse off.

The government has in just five years borrowed some GHC 200 billion out of Ghana’s entire public debt stock of GHC 335 billion since the country’s independence in 1957.

Incidentally, the Akufo-Addo government has been flagged as the poorest in delivering necessary social infrastructure, despite its gargantuan borrowing.

“These are people that six years ago, were dismissing any linkage between the welfare of Ghanaians and any economic indices. They said then, that they have visited the market and were not experiencing single-digit inflation prices in those markets as we were dictating,” Mahama recounted.

He stressed that instead of the government being dismissive of concerns raised by the populace, it should pay attention to the complaints of hardship in the country.

The former president surmised that the economic situation in the country currently is self-inflicted through “the mounting corruption, rising insecurity, abuse of power, lack of investment in critical infrastructure and abandonment of projects and heavy-handed governance.”