Opinions of Thursday, 5 May 2011

Columnist: Nana Yaw Sarpong

Mills Economic Decisions Causing Severe Poverty

The NPP UK and Ireland is calling to President Mills and his government to review economic decisions and policies that are creating extreme hardship and desperate poverty. Families are struggling with their finances, struggling to get loans from banks and also not are able to save any money from their reduced wages .

We believe that the hardship being faced by most Ghanaians is forcing individuals to live beyond their means and causing the kind of corruption going on at our market places, offices, ports, schools and in government departments.

The President and his Minsters should wake up from their deep sleep and.

• Address serious gas and electricity shortages plaguing the capital, Accra and several towns in the outlying areas.

• Reduce high taxes and tariffs which are weakening small businesses.

• End the excessive harassment of our traders and market women by our metropolitan council authorities and exempt them from paying the basic rate of tax to boost business.

The President must reduce tariffs on inputs to make it easy for importers to support farmers and traders in these commodities. The price of food is also risen sharply on essential commodities such as rice, sugar, flour, yams, meat and fish.

450 billon Ghana cedis has been lost through our main ports, Tema and Takoradi and our inland ports in 2 years through the collusion of some government ministers ,officials at the office of the presidency and some corrupt customs officers. These corrupt acts are destabilising to the nation’s security and prosperity and we are disappointed that no action has been taken

Professor Mills is insulting the intelligence of the Ghanaian people in not confronting these challenges and dealing with them. He has failed to condemn or crack down on indiscipline within his government, He has failed to get them to refocus on building trust with the public and delivering the government agenda.


Ghana really deserves better.

Nana Yaw Sarpong
Communications Officer
NPP UK and Ireland
07983302369