Samson’s Take: Extraordinary situation, extraordinary solution

My intention is to reflect useful critical feedback to Mr President on what the people feel about his management of the economy – the country.

But this is Samson’s Take, so I must find some legal angle to it. The Constitution commands in article 36(2) that the central job of governance is establishing “a sound and healthy economy”, and that’s exactly what you promised during your campaign for this job.

I share this video clip in which you demanded an apology from President John Mahama and his team because one needed two cedis in exchange for one dollar. Yes, your demand was that they would quit the government after apologizing for mismanaging the economy.

You did not only promise to do far better but also to transform the economy into one that is self-sufficient and no longer import-driven. Instead of keeping to this principle as the exchange rate is now $1 to GH₵10, you are preaching faith in God for economic recovery.

In fact, you seem to forget what your assurance in March 2020 when Covid-19 set in “…we know what to do to bring our economy back to life. What we do not know how to do is to bring people back to life”.

You have made some strides with your industrialization agenda. We know 1D1F factories are barely impacting the economy. Everything must be done to make them sustainable because this is the path to a sound and healthy economy that will not catch cold when countries millions of miles away sneeze.

We cannot be proud of importing tooth-pick while touting an industrialization agenda for over six years.
By article 162(5) of the Constitution, a journalist must avoid joining your PR team. My job cut out for me in that provision is to hold you accountable to the people and tell you what concerns them. After all, it is a natural legitimate expectation that you will do your sole duty of applying their taxes and wealth to better their lot.

The impression, especially after the election that delivered a vote-of-no-confidence in the NPP in Parliament, is one that suggests you are either not bothered as much or have simply lost hold on the economy and with bad advice.

But it is difficult to think you will not be the most troubled about our circumstances exacerbated by Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.

Yet it is revoltingly nauseating to listen to you preach faith in an okafuo didi Cathedral God to a people losing their businesses and some starving under the weight of a Cedi depreciating on a daily basis. Stop repeating your “the battle is the Lord’s” campaign refrain when talking about the economy at a time utility tariffs and the cost of fuel are hitting the roofs.

You started on such a disastrous note with the historic bloated government of over a hundred and a dozen ministers for a poor country like ours. You justified it but history will not forgive you for that. You created six new regions, largely, for the politics of it, ignoring the immense burden it brings to the public purse.

You ignored every advice to solve an 8-10-billion-Cedi banking crisis with a whooping 25 billion Cedis. Now we are told that exercise will cost us even more. The not-too-many banking people in Ghana are saddled with this debt through a financial sector tax.

It was not surprising when the World Bank said things were getting bad even before the global problems set in. One of your trusted friends and former General Secretary of the NPP, Kwabena Agyepong joins many to demand that proper accounting for the 25 billion or a probe into that expenditure, and dismissal of the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.

You have not listened to genuine calls to sack this minister who refuses to resign after such an embarrassing performance. Your government is still very bloated. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu who leads the NPP and your government in Parliament is selflessly crusading for a constitutional overhaul to fix many things including the imposition of a learn government on you and subsequent presidents.

But before that happens, you have the power to downsize government significantly. The needless 2-3 or more deputies in MMDAs, the historic bloatedness of the Office of the President must be checked. You can, in fact, cut your ministers down to 40 or less.

We have been told and believe the same to be true that this country can run with 20 ministers. One of your own, Dr Stephen Amoah has had to advise publicly that the many deputies who practically have no jobs in state agencies and enterprises ought to be done away with.

Dear President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, what extra-ordinary action have you taken in these extraordinary circumstances?

I cannot but share in the research by the University of Melbourne confirming that power does not turn everyone into a tyrant but, when given to those who want it most, it can inflate narcissism. That’s My Take.

Source: Ghana News