Director of Elections for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Elvis Afriyie Ankrah has slammed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo over the declining economy of the country.
The former minister who was reacting to the governance of Nana Akufo-Addo said the NPP’s governance: ”has been an unmitigated disaster” since 2017.
Comparing the government of the erstwhile Mahama administration to the current Akufo-Addo government, Afriyie Ankrah said Ghana is not doing well under the NPP.
Speaking to some Ghanaians in the diaspora, the former minister outlined the achievements of former president John Mahama, stressing that the NDC government left enough funds for the NPP government yet Ghanaians are poorer than how the state of the nation was before January 2017.
“We have a lot of things to show for the loans we took. We have terminal 3 [Kotoka Internet Airport], we have ports, we have roads, we have hospitals: the University of Ghana Hospital, the Maritime Hospitals, we have district hospitals to show for the loans,” he stated and asked the NPP to challenge his claim.
He said the NPP had borrowed more than the 8 years the NDC was in power, adding ” when you talk about it, they say free SHS.”
“The Free SHS is oil money,” he added while explaining that the government cannot blame the pro-poor education policy for the escalating public debt stock since the NPP took over power in 2017.
Afriyie Ankrah has gone for the jugular of the Akufo-Addo government in recent times for what he describes as the unprecedented hardship that has engulfed Ghanaians in the first year of the second term of the NP government.
“Akufo-Addo is acting as though he’s living in a fool’s paradise,” he told Tonton Sansan host Prince Kwame Minkah last month on TV XYZ.
His comment was a reaction to the NPP communications directorate for disputing that there is hardship in the country.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) had accused former president John Mahama of fueling a perception of hardship in the country with his ‘thank you’ tour.
Director of Communication for the NPP, Yaw Buaben Asamoa, made the assertion at a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Accra on Friday, August 20, 2021, adding that the country is in a good state.
The former Adentan MP noted that President Akufo-Addo was working hard to increase productivity and improve livelihoods.
“We are not frightened of John Mahama, we know he cannot manage the economy, so we can’t let him poison your minds because if you’re sitting your somewhere and they keep telling you ‘oh it is bad, Ghana is hard, there is corruption, Ghana is hard’. Then sometimes, you think it’s true,” Asamoa stated.
However, Afriyie Ankrah who said he is being bombarded with requests for financial assistance disagreed with the NPP, saying the defenders of the government get “free money and fuel” so they don’t feel “the heat” like the average Ghanaian.
“The majority of Ghanaians cannot buy petrol,” he stated. “Look, we politicians who are well known and like to help people genuinely always get monetary requests every day.”
“The requests have gone up a thousand folds; sometimes someone calls you and begs for 20 cedis to be able to care for his wife and children. People are really suffering,” he revealed.
He continued, “People cannot pay for their wards’ fees, their rent, people are suffering only for the president to speak like this. It is unfortunate because he has free money to enjoy with his family.”
Afriyie Ankrah said, unlike the numerous promises the NPP-led Akufo-Addo made to Ghanaians in the run-up to the 2016 elections, life had become unbearable for most Ghanaians as joblessness heightened while the president and his cohorts controlling affairs of the country lived lavishly.
Agitations
Agitations are soaring among labour unions as president Nana Akufo-Addo comes under fire for the low base pay increments for public sector workers for 2021 and 2022.
The 4% increment of the National Daily Minimum Wage to ¢12.53, which is a 6% increment on the 2020 figure of ¢11.82.
President Nana Akufo-Addo won a second term with only a small majority in parliament. His government has since been under pressure as the country struggles with economic troubles and heightening the cost of living worsened by the coronavirus pandemic.
Barely a month after he was sworn in, the government slapped Ghanaians with new taxes that have affected the cost of basic services and food, triggering youth agitations in the relatively peaceful country.
Several thousands of youth rallying behind an online protest, the #FixTheCountry campaign , hit the streets of Accra to embark on their much-talked-about protest.
The protesters, who had started piling pressure on the government over what they describe as bad governance, finally had the opportunity to march and express their dissatisfaction after the police that was blocking the march gave them permission to protest.
The group says the protest was staged to put pressure on the government to address the country’s numerous challenges, including youth unemployment and the rising cost of living in the country.
Recently, the group held a press conference calling for one million signatures to cast a vote of no confidence in the country’s 1992 constitution.
Source: myxyzonline.com
