The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has praised the accomplishments of the Akufo-Addo administration.
According to him, despite recent economic hurdles, the quality of life for Ghanaians has seen significant improvement over the past seven years, in contrast to the term of former President John Dramani Mahama.
Dr Bawumia pointed out the difficulties Ghanaians encountered during Mahama’s administration, including intermittent power supply, commonly known as “dumsor”, rising unemployment, tariff increases, and business failures.
“Sure. I can say without any fear of contradiction that notwithstanding the recent economic challenges, which have resulted in hardships for many Ghanaians, the fact remains that the lives of Ghanaians have improved significantly after seven years of our government from what they were during the government of John Mahama.
“There is no dispute about it. Why do I say so? Because the data says so! You would recall that in the previous government, we endured four years of power outages (which we called “dumsor”), which collapsed many businesses and increased unemployment.
“There was no chalk in schools, and teacher and nursing training allowances were cancelled. There was a near-collapse of the National Health Insurance Scheme and the National Ambulance Service. There were increases in electricity tariffs by an average of 50% annually. And many parents could not afford the fees to send their children to senior high school,” he stated.
The NPP flagbearer noted that the government has enacted numerous policies aimed at alleviating the hardships faced by Ghanaians.
He also highlighted the reinstatement of the previously cancelled teacher and nursing training allowances, emphasising that they have created more jobs than any other administration.
“Since coming into office, we have implemented many policies to reduce the suffering of Ghanaians. The electricity tariffs over the last six years have seen the lowest increase (11%) for any seven-year period over the last 30 years! We also provided free electricity for lifeline users for a year and a 50% reduction in tariffs for all other consumers during COVID-19. We have restored the cancelled teacher and nursing training allowances. We have created more jobs than any other government,” he said.
He pointed out that Ghana’s per capita income rose from GH¢7,756 in 2016 to GH¢19,464 by the end of 2022.
“Ghana’s per capita income increased from GH¢7,756 in 2016 to GH¢19,464 by the end of 2022. In dollar terms, it increased from $1,978 to $2,353,” Dr Bawumia noted.
