Former President John Dramani Mahama, has taken a swipe at the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and President Nana Akufo-Addo for their continuous promises that it can revive the country’s economy before the end of 2024.
According to Mr Mahama, nothing else will come out of the remaining one and a half years of the Akufo-Addo government, insisting that anybody who expects anything to the contrary, must be dreaming.
Speaking to National Democratic Congress (NDC) delegates in the Wa East constituency in the Upper West Region, the ex-President stated that the NPP, is not capable of changing Ghana’s fortunes within the remaining one and a half years left for it to leave power.
To him, the NPP has been in power for almost seven years, hence has nothing new to offer. He advised Ghanaians not to expect any miracles from the NPP.
“We have experienced NDC’s administration- after Professor Evans Atta-Mills, I took over from him making it 8 years. And we have experienced NPP for almost 7 years.
They are left with one and a half years more, no miracle is going to happen. What they have done is all that they can do, they are not going to add anything to it. So anybody thinking that there will be a miracle is just tickling himself and dreaming. What you have is all there is, there’s going to be nothing more,” Mr Mahama said.
“So, anybody thinking that there will be a miracle is just tickling himself and dreaming”.
“What you have is all there is, there’s going to be nothing more”, the former president said.
Mr Mahama, who is seeking a comeback, said: “In 2016, all the lies they told and all the propaganda they told, Ghanaians can now see [through them].”
He noted: “All the preaching that, ‘We are sitting on money and yet, we are hungry’, and the claims that ‘Ghanaians were suffering’; Ghanaians are now suffering more than they were in 2016.”
Mr Mahama added: “Any work that anyone does, you hardly get profit.”
“I can beat my chest and say, in 2016, our lives were far better than we are today,” he asserted.
Mahama’s comments come at a time when the government is engaging the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3 billion bailout to help restore the ailing economy.
The government has also rolled out policies and programs aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability.
The government has expressed hope of securing the Paris Club financing assurances within the shortest possible time to enable the $3 billion support from the IMF. The Deputy Finance Minister, John Kumah, assured that discussions towards securing the bailout support from the IMF have been fruitful.
Mahama’s criticisms of the NPP’s ability to revive Ghana’s economy come amidst the ongoing debate about the country’s economic future.