We can’t continue to blame Hardships in Ghana on Covid-19 – Kapito

A member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government and pre-2016 election pressure group- OccupyGhana, Kofi Kapito has said, his party cannot continue to blame the hardships Ghanaians are going through on the novel Coronavirus pandemic which has ravaged many robust economies in the world.

Kofi Kapito who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Consumer Protection Agency (CPA)  noted,  that the earlier  the government accepted that it was voted to fix problems and not to complain the better for it.

He was unhappy with the   government’s attempt  to    shirk its responsibility when it knew that  its primary focus should be the welfare of  the citizenry.

“As a card-bearing member of the NPP, I expect  the government to humbly tell Ghanaians how difficult things have become because of the coronavirus and plead with the   people to have patience  and not  to give  excuses”, he said.

The outspoken member of the OccupyGhana who is currently domiciling in the United States of America (USA) made these observations  on Amansan Television’s  (ATV) current affairs show, ‘ Asem Yi Dika’   on Monday, May 10, 2021 whiles commenting on the #FixTheCountry campaign.

Read More: Asiedu Walker lauds Ghanaian Youths for “#FixTheCountry” Campaign

His comments followed the  response by the Minister of Finance,  Ken Ofori-Atta   to the #FixTheCountry  campaigners  at a press conference held last week Sunday in Accra.

Whiles acknowledging the concerns raised by the campaigners, the Minister of Finance however, said, for the first time in  64 years of as  a nation, “a Ghanaian Government had to tackle a severe health crisis and its attendant economic crisis”.

According to Mr Ofori-Atta, the outbreak and the ensuing partial lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus brought the socio-economic activities in the country to a virtual halt, “with the resultant loss of jobs, incomes, the collapse of businesses and loss of Government revenues”.

He also blamed the sudden relapse in the country’s debt situation from 62.4% (2019) – 76.1% (2020) on the   decisive and unparalleled measures the government took to protect Ghanaians which he claimed came with a cost.

But, Mr  Kapito  would not take any of these as an excuse for the government to sit down unconcerned whiles the citizenry go through difficulties.

He therefore  called on the government to,  as a matter of urgency address the concerns raised  by  Ghanaians.

The #FixTheCountry hashtag was started by popular Ghanaian Twitter influencer, KalyJay (whose real name is Joshua Boye-Doe) in reaction to push the concerns of citizens and demand accountability from the government.

Some celebrities and political activists later joined the campaign and the hashtag and its variants including #fixthecountrynow, #nameandshame, #fixitnow, #fixmotherghana have been at the top of the Twitter trends for over a week.

The tweets have expressed displeasure over successive government’s failure to improve the living standards of Ghanaians. Among the concerns include dumsor, unemployment, galamsey, and poor healthcare systems which they cite as proof of successive governments’ mismanagement of the country.

The conveners intended to gather supporters for a demonstration at the Black Star Square in Accra on May 9, 2021 but had to alter their plans after the Ghana Police Service secured an injunction against it.

The conveners are at the Supreme Court challenging the injunction with the hearing scheduled for June 8, 2021.

By Atta KWAKU BOADI || Today