“An Economy that Can’t Keep Lights On Cannot Afford a Ventilator” – Information Minister Responds to Mahama

Ghana’s Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has responded to claims of former President John Dramani Mahama that the country’s economy is in tatters merely after a month of COVID-19.

The former President, Mahama during a recent interaction via social media said the much-hyped economy by the Akufo-Addo government has failed the test of time as it is currently in shambles.

“Unfortunately, this government has used a lot of propaganda saying the economy has been the best that we have ever had since independence. Unfortunately, just one month of coronavirus the economy is in ICU. If we didn’t run to the IMF for the one billion rapid credit facility, it is possible that in the next month probably salaries would not have been paid and so our economy is on ventilators, and it needs thinking to rescue it from the ICU,” Mahama said.

But the Information Minister at a press briefing on Tuesday, April 28, 2020,  insisted that the current economy is resilient compared to the one they inherited from the previous government.

“An economy that can’t keep the lights on will not be able to afford a ventilator let alone to keep it functioning to save lives. We have come far as a country on a more serious note, building a strong economic base to fund all that we are doing,” he responded.

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Oppong Nkrumah also argued that the robust economy built by the government since it assumed office in January 2017 has enabled it to embark on the many interventions and programmes undertaken since the first two cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Ghana in March 2020.

“Our current economic positioning is a major reason for which we are able to marshal the resources to execute a good number of the interventions we are introducing today.”

“Moving forward, the state of our economy will be key in our ability to introduce the necessary interventions to win the various battles in this war,” he noted.

The Information Minister, at a press briefing on Tuesday, April 28, 2020, gave the assurances that “our current economic positioning is a major reason for which we are able to marshal the resources to execute a good number of the interventions we are introducing today.”

“Moving forward, the state of our economy will be key in our ability to introduce the necessary interventions to win the various battles in this war,” he noted.