President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has given former President John Dramani Mahama a taste of his own medicine, describing the NDC administration under the ex-president from 2013 to 2016 as an unmitigated disaster with an abysmal economic record.
According to the President, his predecessor is not on strong ground when talking about the economy because he has no lessons to give in economic management.
He has therefore urged Mr. Mahama to be wary on commenting on matters that have to do with management of the Ghanaian economy.
President Akufo-Addo threw this salvo last Friday while responding to a statement by the former President in which he accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of economic mismanagement.
“I wonder whether this statement was made tongue in cheek by the former president.
“When you look at the record that this political leader, who can accuse my government of mismanagement, there are a few facts that when you put on the table to compare his performance and mine, it would tell you that if what I am offering people is economic mismanagement.
“I wonder what words we should describe his (Mahama) stewardship of Ghana. It is an unmitigated disaster, that’s what I would call him”, President Akufo-Addo added.
According to him, under the tenure of John Mahama, economic growth rate in 2016 stood at 3.4%, the lowest in two decades; with all other macroeconomic indicators pointing in the wrong direction.
“Inflation, when he left office, was 15.4%; today, at the end of July, which is the last hard facts from the Statistical Service, it’s 9%.
“Interest rates are always a good determinant of how the economy is operating, 32% in December 2016, today, it is 20.6%.
“We are talking about treasury bill decline in interest rate, we are talking about the trade deficit that was $1.8 billion in 2016, to a trade surplus of $2.6 billion at the end of 2019,” the President said.
He wondered if these statistics, which, prior to COVID-19, led to Ghana being one of the fastest growing economies in the world with a GDP of 7%, “can be considered economic mismanagement.
“What would be the description of the economy managed by John Mahama that took Ghana into the embrace of the IMF,” he queried?
Senchi forum disaster
Responding to the former President’s call for an economic forum, President Akufo-Addo said, “If the economic forum is going to be a repetition of the so-called Senchi Consensus, then I think I have to spare the people of Ghana this sort of development.
“The Senchi Consensus was an unmitigated disaster; out of it we went into the embrace of the IMF with all the difficulties that came from there and the disarray it pointed to in the economy of our country.
“He is not on strong ground when he is talking about the economy. His track record, I am reluctant to use these strong words, but in normal parlance, I would say it abysmal and, therefore, he has no lessons to give me at all in the management of the economy,” President Akufo-Addo added.
He urged Mr. Mahama to therefore take a cue and limit his comments on matters of economic management.
