Opinions of Monday, 5 August 2019

Columnist: Kwaku Badu

Hassan Ayariga’s APC could well be a credible alternative!

Founder of All People's Congress(APC)  - Hassan Ayariga Founder of All People's Congress(APC) - Hassan Ayariga

The NDC brassbound loyalists must stop living in a denial and accept the fact that the erstwhile Mahama administration rather left Ghana’s economy in a serious mess, and therefore it cannot be fixed in 30 months by any economist on this earth.

It is quite ironic to see the NDC loyalists vehemently criticising the NPP government led by President Akufo-Addo of allegedly messing up Ghana’s economy in barely 30 months into 48 months mandate.

How can NDC faithful boast of excellence in economic management when Mahama’s administration abysmally dragged the 14% economic growth in 2011 to a disappointing 3.4% by December 2016?

The NDC operatives cannot claim birth right to prudent governance when former President Mahama wilfully raised Ghana’s debt from GH9.5 billion in 2009 to an incredible GH122.4 billion by December 2016 with a little to show for.

Discerning Ghanaians cannot accept any excuses from the NDC loyalists when Ex-President Mahama’s business crippling dumsor went on for well over five years.

How can Mahama and his teeming supporters convince some of us of managing Ghana’s economy efficiently when they recklessly signed superfluous Power Purchasing Agreements (PPAs)-‘take it or payagreements’, in which Ghana is unfortunately paying over $600 million per year for excess power we do not need?

Mahama could not have been an excellent economic manager when his administration terribly collapsed the Agricultural sector by reducing the growth from 7.4% in 2012 to a miserable 2.5% by December 2016.

How can the NDC faithful beat their chest and claim to be a viable alternative when former President Mahama shrunk Ghana’s GDP from $47 billion in 2011 to $40billion by December 2016?

Mahama cannot boast of financial prudence when he recklessly gave out large portions of Ghana’s scarce resources to parasitic creatures, who, in all honesty, contributed nothing meaningful towards the nation-building.

Let us admit, Mahama cannot claim to have the wellbeing of Ghana at heart when he shockingly decided to give away 58% of Ghana’s bauxite to his sibling, Ibrahim Mahama on a silver platter.

How can Mahama convince some of us that he is the best person to mobilise our revenues when his brother, Ibrahim Mahama, evaded import tax to the tune of GH12 million?

The NDC loyalists cannot convince some of us that they can efficiently look after our scarce resources when they carelessly paid a purported GH800 million dubious judgment debt, including the GH51.2 million to Woyome, $30 million to the Waterville and $325,000 to Isofoton which resulted in the drastic reduction of capital expenditure and as a consequence, most contractors were not paid by the erstwhile NDC administration.

How can the NDC operatives exonerate themselves from blame when they misapplied $175 million loan facility secured in 2012 which was meant to provide seven district hospitals and misapplied on the blind side of Ghanaians?

Surely, NDC cannot take good care of Ghana’s scarce resources when over GH200 million SADA funds invested on trees burnt down and guinea fowls mysteriously flew to the nearby Burkina Faso without a trace. How bizarre?

It is, indeed, quite ironic that despite all the harsh economic conditions amidst corruption allegations (Bus branding, Brazil World Cup, SADA, SUBA, GYEEDA, SSNIT, NCA, Ford Expedition Vehicle, amongst others), the NDC faithful can still go ahead and aim accusing fingers at the NPP government of promising the electorates heaven, which led to their humiliating 2016 election defeat.

Given the circumstances, it would be extremely unreasonable for anyone to expect a government that has been in power for less than three years to honour all its Manifesto promises within such a short space of time.

Wasn’t the erstwhile NDC administration led by Ex-President Mahama that bizarrely claimed that they, (NDC government), had rapaciously consumed all the meat on the bone?

Isn’t it then bizarre to keep hearing and reading from the same people who wilfully collapsed the once blossoming economy shouting from the roof top about the supposedly slow pace of development, barely two and half years of NPP government taking office?

How could individuals who carelessly throw Ghana’s economy deeper and deeper into the mire in eight years turn around and accuse the NPP government of not fixing the massive mess in barely two and half years in office?

Notwithstanding the economic mess left by the erstwhile Mahama’s administration, the current NPP government under the able leadership of President Akufo-Addo has commendably undertaken a number of social interventions to the benefit of the poor and the disadvantaged Ghanaians.

President Akufo-Addo and his government are graciously delivering on their Manifesto promises to the delight of the vast majority of Ghanaians.

If President Akufo-Addo and his government managed to fulfil all those promises, trust me, it would be an illustrative case of “heaven on earth”

We can all attest to the fact that the NDC government failed terribly to initiate expedient policies to overturn the failed policies of agriculture, poverty reduction and resource allocation in the areas of healthcare, education, finance, supply chain management and security sector planning, amongst others.

Based on the delineated facts and figures, it would be somewhat disingenuous for anybody to claim that NDC is a competent custodian of Ghana’s economy.

Some of us, as a matter of principle, would rather prefer Hassan Ayariga’s APC to an insensitive government that can give away our scarce resources to party apologists.