How the NDC Guest Speaker Rated and Endorsed Akufo-Addo

Opinions on Wednesday 25 November 2020

Columnist: Kwaku badu

2020-11-25

At some point last year, a video clip turned ‘vile’ showing a Nigerian academic, who happened to be a guest speaker at a forum hosted by the opposition leadership NDC, sincerely praising the Akufo-Addo government for the auspicious growth. Ghanaian economy, apparently, much to the chagrin of its hosts (the NDC Executives), many of whom were extremely baffled by the guest speaker’s incredible intellectual honesty.

The main question, however, is: Did NDC loyalists really trust the judgment of said informed and widely credible Nigerian academic?

Well, I’m pretty sure they do; otherwise you would not have been invited to speak about the Ghanaian economy at their special meeting.

Interestingly, before Nigerians’ honest and scholarly endorsement of Ghana’s conducive economic growth, well publicized, there was praise from some credible organizations and influencers, both domestic and foreign. Indeed, had it not been for the unspeakable coronavirus, Ghana’s economy would have been vastly transformed.

Take, for example, in 2017, Bloomberg News predicted that Ghana would become “Africa’s fastest growing economy in 2018” and proclaimed “Star of Africa in 2018 Lenders’ Economic Forecasts”.

And, reporting on the same fiscal policy achievements, Le Monde noted that “Ghana’s economic success is not just the result of an oil-driven boom, but is also due to prudent economic management, a population entrepreneur, the role of leaders and good governance “.

It is therefore not surprising that people like the experienced Ghanaian journalist Malik Kweku Baako, the Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms Christine Lagarde, and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, have, all on separate occasions, praised the Akufo-Addo government for its excellent economic performance in its two and a half years in office.

Yet unrepentant critics of the Akufo-Addo government, such as opposition loyalists to the NDC, have blatantly refused to accept Ghana’s well-recognized favorable economic growth.

Interestingly, skeptics claim that the economy is getting worse under the leadership of Akufo-Addo, while blatantly failing to acknowledge the fact that economic growth in 2016 was 3.4%, and before the deadly coronavirus, the Akufo administration- Addo moved it to around 8.6. % (GSS).

NDC faithful are extremely unhappy with current inflation, though they do not acknowledge the fact that the Mahama administration left inflation at around 15.8% in 2016 (GSS).

NDC loyalists complain inexorably about the exchange rate of the Cedi to the dollar, which stands at around 5.70 GH per $ 1 (BOG), while refusing to accept the fact that they passed it from 1.20 GH at $ 1 in 2009 (BOG) to around 4.20 in 2016 (BOG).

Opposition NDC supporters accuse Akufo-Addo of being insensitive when it comes to fuel prices and ignore the fact that in 2009, the NDC government inherited a gallon of gasoline around GH3,69 (Ghanabusinessnews .com / energypedia.info). , 06/01/2009) and left it around GH18.00 in January 2017 (See: Fuel prices increase by approximately 11%; cityfmonline.com/ghanaweb.com, 05/01/2017)

Skeptics bitterly complain that Akufo-Addo is doing nothing about Ghana’s deplorable roads. Meanwhile, Akufo-Addo is prudently using Ghana’s bauxite in a barter deal worth around $ 2 billion with China’s state-owned hydroelectric engineering and construction team, Sinohydro, to build roads across the country.

Critics claim that Akufo-Addo is not doing enough to tackle the unemployment problem in the country. And yet the Akufo-Addo government has facilitated more than 250 factories, which are in various stages of completion across the country as part of the One District One Factory program.

In addition, about one hundred thousand graduates have obtained jobs under the pragmatic scheme of the National Builders Corporation (NABCO), while thousands more, including nurses and teachers, have worked in public service since the PNP government took office.

Staunch supporters of the NDC insist that the economy is not reflected in the pockets of Ghanaians. Meanwhile, the Akufo-Addo government has taken pragmatic measures and restored the allowances for nurses and teachers that were sadly canceled by the former Mahama administration.

Mahama’s many followers are saying with some force that Ghanaian parents are suffering abject misery. And yet the Akufo-Addo government has judiciously distributed national resources in the form of free SHS, which paved the way for more than 400,000 children a year, including the more than 190,000 children who would not otherwise have the opportunity to enter upper secondary school.

Unsurprisingly, skeptics belittle the benefits of Free SHS. Meanwhile, the Akufo-Addo government is spending a staggering GH5532.83 over a three-year period on each student. Indeed, parents with three children in SHS will pocket no less than GH16598.49 over three years.

NDC operatives mourn heartily for Ghanaian merchants, who, in fact, are satisfied with the Akufo-Addo government for relieving them of more than eighteen pesky taxes that had so far crippled their businesses.

NDC faithful insist that the Akufo-Addo government has done nothing significant to prudently lower the benchmarks (30% on cars and 50% on goods) to the utter delight of Ghanaian traders.

However, since the announcement of the benchmark reductions, some beneficiaries have witnessed significant discounts. Take, for example, credible sources who claim that after the reductions, the tax on a Toyota Corolla sedan car has dropped from 22,000 to 15,000 GH.

Clearly, there is a considerable discount from GH7000. Doesn’t this money go to Ghana’s pocket?

We also heard another importer narrate how he previously paid GH14000 tax on a certain saloon and only paid GH9500 after the announcement. Apparently this individual is pocketing GH4500 due to good governance.

The NDC guest speaker was absolutely right: Ghana is moving in the right direction under the able leadership of President Akufo-Addo.

May God bless our Homeland Ghana !!!

K. Badu, UK.

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