No NPP member can be exonerated from current economic mess – Mahama

Former President John Mahama says no member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) can be exonerated from Ghana’s present economic challenges.

According to him, all those who contributed to the country’s current situation are now trying to distance themselves from the mess.

Speaking during a town hall meeting in Tamale as part of his “Building Ghana Tour” on Thursday, the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) said that people are now claiming they were not given the authority to implement solutions to the economic challenges.

“All of them they inside, Jack Toronto and all his small brothers are part of the mess that we are going through.

“None of them can escape responsibility, none of them because they have all been a part of this. They all sat in cabinet together, they all took those decisions together. Anytime they were going to borrow from the Eurobond market, they approved it in cabinet.

“They sat in cabinet and approved it. In six years, you went and borrowed 13.5 billion dollars and you did nothing with it so today, you can’t come and tell us you are not part of it,” he said.

Mr Mahama maintained that all NPP members are accountable for the economic challenges facing the country, and Ghanaians will hold them responsible for the hardship and debts incurred.

He assured that the next NDC administration if voted in the upcoming 2024 general elections, will work to turn around the economy.

“They must go home and learn their lessons. NDC is coming back by winning this election and we have the men and women that are going to restore this country’s economy and finances to a healthy condition,” he said.

The NDC flagbearer for the 2024 elections emphasised that the NPP administration inherited a thriving economy and criticised Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumiah for attempting to avoid responsibility for his role in the mismanagement of the economy.

“You inherited an economy that was doing well; it is you, by your mismanagement, your clueless Finance Minister, and your clueless head of the Economic Management Team who now want to run away from economic issues to become the champion of digitalisation; it is they who have created this mess,” Mr Mahama stressed.

He refuted the NPP’s claim that the country is turning the corner, stating that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has declared Ghana’s debt as unsustainable and in a distress situation.

“The good thing that our friends in the NPP have is that they know how to talk, they are very good talkers, they are good at sowing propaganda and they believe that at any time they can talk and convince the good people of Ghana.

“But we are wiser now, all the things they did, the promises they made, they have not kept even one of them,” he said.