JM wouldn’t recognise a well-run economy if one slapped him in the face; he was a disaster – Akufo-Addo
President Nana Akufo-Addo has said the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress was a disaster in office, saying Ghanaians will not forget how he messed up the economy before his defeat in the 2016 elections.
“I know that the NDC presidential candidate, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, believes and says often that Ghanaians have a short memory and he must hold strongly to this belief, otherwise, I doubt he would’ve summed the courage to be seeking another term after the disaster that was his presidency” the President said on Saturday, 22 August 2020 during the manifesto launch of the governing New Patriotic Party in Cape Coast.
According to him, “Ghanaians might have short memories but not short enough for us to have forgotten the broken-down freezers, irons and other household equipment, thanks to the five years of dumsor.
“Our memories are not short enough to forget that the economy under him was a wreck that there was a ban placed on all recruitment into our public services.
“Our memories are not short enough to forget that teachers taught for three years and were only paid for three months.
“Our memories are certainly not short enough to forget that he brought our entire financial services system to near-collapse”, he added.
The President also said: “I’ve heard him make the extraordinary claim that Ghana’s economy was in ‘tatters’ not because of the COVID-19 pandemic but because of mismanagement”.
He responded: “I doubt that he can recognise a well-managed economy even if it slapped him in the face”.
“Luckily for us”, the President noted, “we do not have to rely on his judgement or assessment of the economy but it is important to tell him just in case there are others like him around that Ghana is today, in a position to be able to provide one hot meal for JHS students who are back in school in the midst of the pandemic, to pay for pay for six months, the water bills of all Ghanaians, to subsidise electricity bills for all Ghanaians for three months”.
Indeed, the President added: “We thank the Almighty that the pandemic did not strike under his presidency, when there was no money in the national kitty to pay teachers and nurses’ allowances”.
On concerns regarding political campaigning amidst the pandemic, the President said: “We’re very much aware of the realities of the times”.
“We know the havoc COVID-19 has wreaked on our economy and livelihoods.
“I’ve asked our party members to keep these sensibilities in their minds in all they do as they are about campaigning for votes.
“Adherence to the COVID-19 protocols means we cannot resort to the traditional methods of campaigning and I urge all of us to obey strictly, these rules.
“We cannot have the traditional crowds and the rallies and whenever there are gatherings, we have to try and observe the social distancing rules”, he said.