A founding member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, has criticized President Akufo-Addo for failing to mention the menace of corruption and illegal small-scale mining in his address to Ghanaians on the hardship in the country. In an XYZ TV interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe said that the country was losing a lot of money because of illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) and the president failing to mention it is telling. He added that corruption, which the president also failed to mention, is the main cause of the hardship Ghanaians are currently facing. "One thing that was surprising is that the president didn't talk about galamsey when he was addressing the nation. He should have taken the opportunity to touch on the sensitive areas that have run the economy down. "Because just as the Asantehene was saying the last time, the gold that comes out of our soil appears to be smuggled out. Our water bodies and forests are just being destroyed for nothing. "He also failed to touch on corruption which shocked me. Because I can tell you that 70 percent of the problems we have now are because of corruption. And if that is put right, this country will have no problem. There is corruption from top to bottom; that was what I was expecting the president to address," he said. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, during his address on Sunday, admitted that times are hard economically and that his government is working assiduously to provide relief to the citizenry. He stressed in an address on the economy that his administration was ready to work towards restoring and resetting the economy on the path of progress and stability. These views were contained in his October 30, 2022, address to the nation on the state of the economy. "For us, in Ghana, our reality is that our economy is in great difficulty. The budget drawn for the 2022 fiscal year has been thrown out of gear, disrupting our balance of payments and debt sustainability, and further exposing the structural weaknesses of our economy. "We are in a crisis; I do not exaggerate when I say so. I cannot find an example in history when so many malevolent forces have come together at the same time," he added. "But, as we have shown in other circumstances, we shall turn this crisis into an opportunity to resolve not just the short-term, urgent problems but the long-term structural problems that have bedevilled our economy. "I urge us all to see the decision to go to the International Monetary Fund in this light," he stressed. Watch the interview below: You can also watch this episode of People & Places on GhanaWeb TV: IB/SEA