Former President John Dramani Mahama has lashed out at economic experts for supposedly being bias in their analysis of the performance of various governments in the country.
The apparently perplexed former president indicated some “so-called experts” have always made their analysis against the National Democratic Congress (NDC) anytime the party is in power.
According to the 2020 NDC flagbearer, the situation where these experts suddenly “say that life is better for them” under the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) leaves room for suspicion.
In a Facebook post yesterday, former President Mahama claimed these experts urged voters ahead of the 2016 election, when he was in office, to “look at the escalation of prices of cement and other products on the market”, despite an encouraging economic outlook.
“Our people are galled by the hypocrisy of so-called economic experts, asking them in 2016 to forget about economic statistics and look at the escalation of prices of cement and other products on the market, and then today, hearing the same experts in government hold-up statistics, inflation etc., and say that life is better for them. And that the perception of hardship in Ghana is a creation of Mahama,” the former President added.
It is not clear to who exactly, the concern of the former president was directed.
However, Mr Mahama’s comment followed the recent announcement by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) the Ghanaian economy expanded by 3.9% in the second quarter of this year, citing its provisional figures.
On September 10, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia also assured Ghana’s construction industry that the Akufo-Addo government is on course in its resolve to manage and mitigate the debilitating global effect of COVID-19.
Addressing members of the construction industry at the Ghana Construction Industry Excellence Awards, Dr Bawumia, while commending the immense contribution of Ghanaian contractors to the development of the country, also highlighted the devastating impact global factors arising out of the covid-19 pandemic has had on their operations, especially cost of construction materials.
“Throughout the world, prices of goods have shot up. The shipping cost of container, from China to Europe have increased from around $2000 in August last year, to $13,000 now per container – 650% increase.
“You also have major goods that have gone up as a result of COVID, and all of you in the construction industry know that the world prices for cement and iron rods have really shot up.
“So when we see the same things happening in Ghana, we know why it is happening. It is a global phenomenon as a result of the pandemic,” he said.
The NPP’s Director of Communication, Yaw Buaben Asamoa, has also blamed the NDC leader for fueling the perception of hardship despite the government’s strides in improving the economy to make the government unpopular.
