Ghana’s ex-President John Dramani Mahama has delivered his thought about the state of the nation, warning that it is heading in the wrong direction.
He was addressing a rally crowd Tuesday night as part of his comeback campaign for the Presidency with less than 14 days to the country’s general elections.
“Our country is going in the wrong direction. The economy is the weakest we have seen since the beginning of the Fourth Republic. This government alone has borrowed more than we borrowed since independence till I left office. In four years, this President alone and his Finance Minister have borrowed 157 billion cedis and yet you can’t even finish a small road coming to Sandema. They said the money was there; they said they could develop this country without going to borrow. Today, look at it. If they divide the total debt of Ghana amongst all of us, each of us, including your one-day-old baby you had just yesterday, owes nine thousand Ghana cedis. That is ninety million old cedis.
“Ask them— what did you do with the money? At least when I was President and I borrowed I can show you the things I did with the money. I can show you the roads, I can show you the community-day schools, I can I can show you the polyclinics, I can show you the hospitals, I can show you the small town water systems, I can show you the electrification projects, I can show you the interchanges, I can show you the airports, I can show you the harbours,” he told supporters of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Builsa North Constituency.
Mahama lists companies “collapsed by” Akufo-Addo government
A list of some home-grown companies that collapsed in Ghana under the Akufo-Addo government came strongly under the spotlight at the rally.
A resounding noise of disapproval erupted from the party’s supporters against the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) as Mahama made an inventory of the collapsed companies.
“If you came and promised us jobs, don’t destroy the existing jobs that are there. Today, more than 10,000 people are sitting at home. All those who were working in GN Bank, they are at home. All those who were working in UniBank, they are at home. All those who were working in UT Bank, they are at home. All those who were working in Royal Bank, they are at home. All those who were working in Heritage Bank, they are at home. Construction Bank, home. Twenty-seven savings and loans companies— home. Three hundred and fifty-six microfinance companies— home. That is why I say when John Mahama becomes President again, we are going to revive and re-create the investments of Ghanaians in the finance sector so that those sitting at home can get jobs to do again.
“All those who were working with construction companies, they are home, because when the new government came, they said, ‘Everybody, stop work.’ And they stopped work. Up to now, there are contractors who did work in 2016 and government has refused to pay them. And so, their equipment are parked; their workers are all at home. The only place you can point and say they have created any jobs is NABCO. But NABCO— seven hundred cedis a month to those young people. Those young people don’t want artificial jobs; they want real jobs. And that’s why NDC has said that when we win, those NABCO graduates, we’ll graduate them into permanent so that they can also get permanent jobs to do,” said Mahama.
He said the reconstruction of the poor road network leading from Navrongo to Sandema stalled when the NDC lost power in 2016 and was abandoned because it was not a priority to the NPP.
“Maybe it is God’s destiny that NDC will be the one to come and finish the road project soon,” he reckoned, drawing cheers from the crowd.
By: Edward Adeti
