Stop Blaming Ghana's Economic Mess On COVID-19 And Russia-Ukraine War-- Dr Nii Moi Thompson Warns Akufo-Addo And Bawumia

THE former Director-General of National Development Planning Commission (NDPC),Dr Nii Moi Thompson, has taken a swipe at President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr Alhaji Mahamadu Bawumia including the officials of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), warning them to stop their continuous habit of blaming Ghana's economic mess on coronavirus -19 and Russia-Ukraine war.

He stressed that next time any government official blames Ghana’s economic mess on Covid and Ukraine, remind them that Ghana was not the only country affected.

She called on the Ghanaians to be bold enough to show the NPP officials the following: number of Covid deaths, South Africa, 102,595, Kenya: 5,689, Ghana: 1,462 China: 5,272,Ukraine: 112,518 and Russia: 402,756

Inflation by country - July 2024,  South Africa: 5.1%, Kenya: 4.3%, Ghana: 21%, China: 0.5%, Ukraine: 5.4% and Russia: 9.1%.

In a write up captured by Soireenews.com, Dr Thompson stressed the need of Ghanaians the also remind the NPP officials that they mobilised a total of GH¢27 billion, including USA $2 billion from the IMF in 2020 and 2021, and spent only 40% of the GH¢27 billion on Covid.

"What happened to the rest of the money, why are Ghanaians paying a Covid levy, and why is Ghana back at the IMF for an additional $3 billion? he asked.

"And then there's eurobond (excluding other loans). Of the $15.5 billion borrowed by Ghana since 2007, $11 billion was borrowed between 2018 and 2021," he added.

According to him, the government says the money went into infrastructure development. Its own budgets show that that's a lie. 

He indicated that infrastructure spending fell short of budgets by an average of 10% per year between 2017 and 2020 (it exceeded budget by about 3% yearly between 2013 and 2016). 

"And all over the country, communities are protesting against poor roads, crumbling schools and hospitals, and projects abandoned by contractors because they have not been paid," he said.

In short, he emphasized that Covid put no extra pressure on our public finances. We spent less than half of the money mobilised for it. 

"In fact, according to the government, we even exceeded our tax revenue target in 2020.

"The causes of the crisis are mismanagement and corruption. Nothing else, Dr Thompson noted.