News of ex-President John Mahama, speaking at the Auditorium of the University of Professional Studies (UPSA) in Accra, later today, Thursday October 27, 2022, has gotten many Ghanaians very expectant.
While, some have questioned the essence of the address, many have said it is important for him to address the country on the worsening economic hardship Ghanaians are going through under the Akufo-Addo administration which has seen two Ghanaians committing suicide.
However, those demanding that he speaks are also of the view that, whatever he is going to say tonight, must be inspiring and assuring to his fellow citizens or forget it.
They feel that, he must exude hope and confidence for a better tomorrow, especially when he is seeking to make a return to the presidency in January 2025, on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Mr Mahama’s speech, The Herald has pick up even from the NDC elements must be one that rallies not just his party followers, but even the average member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) who is disappointed in the Akufo-Addo administration and would want to buy into his return to the Presidency.
According to many NDC insiders, the speech must seek to address what he would do differently from his successor, Nana Akufo-Addo, when elected again to the highest office of the land.
They would want him to speak about the massive corruption in the Akufo-Addo government, the colossal financial irregularities captured in the Auditor-General’s report and the elephant size government.
He must acknowledge the unprecedented decision of the Majority side of Parliament to demand the sacking of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahene, the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry.
Many hold the view that Mr Mahama, must abandon his constant calls on the Akufo-Addo administration to hold another dialogue on the economy similar to his National Economic Forum held in Senchi in the Eastern Region, referred to as the Senchi Consensus, because the government is not interested in any such meeting, but rather prefers separately meeting stakeholders inside the Jubilee House.
The NPP, has insisted that Mr Mahama, has nothing new to offer, hence should not be re-elected by Ghanaians, and some people in his NDC feel he must use the opportunity of the national address to spell out what he is going to do differently from the Akufo-Addo administration.
President Akufo-Addo and his cabinet, are said to be heading into a meeting from today to Saturday October 29, 2022, after which he is also expected to address the nation on Sunday.
The former President at a meeting with some executives of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in Accra on Friday, October 21, 2022, had expressed concern about the state of Ghana’s economy and called on the citizenry and the media to “come on board” to salvage the situation.
He said the economy was in a “terrible” situation and urged the Government to “come clean on the state of the economy” and “rally the people” to fix it.
The purpose of the visit was to among others, introduce the new executives to the former President and officially invite him to the 2022 GJA Media Awards scheduled for November 12, 2022.
Former President Mahama, who is also a communications expert, is a member of the GJA. Ghana currently, has an interbank exchange rate of GHS11.5 to US$1, inflation rate of 37.2 per cent, and a monetary policy rate of 24.5 per cent.
Mr Mahama, urged the media to continue to play its “watchdog” role to build confidence and restore faith in the country’s democracy.
He urged the Government to take urgent steps to restore the economy and halt the rapid depreciation of the Cedi.
“The economy is in danger of crashing if we don’t get an IMF programme. How to even survive until that IMF Programme is going to be very difficult.
“In circumstances like this, what you do is to rally the country…We have come to the reality of the situation, and we all need to come on board and see how we can salvage it,” he said.
A day after the GJA meeting with the ex-President, the 80-year oldSenior Presidential Advisor, Yaw Osafo Marfo, admitted current economic hardship in the country, but said voting for the opposition NDC is not the alternative to solving the economic woes.
He is, however, confident the crisis will soon be over, as measures are in place to bring the economy back on its feet.
Mr Osafo-Marfo, a former Finance Minister in the Kufuor administration, said this at a durbar at Ofoase in the Eastern Region, as part of President Akufo-Addo’s three-day tour to the Eastern Region.
“We all know the economy is not in good shape,” he said in vernacular.
“The economic challenge is not from Ghana. If something is not from you, you have to take your time to strategically resolve it. It won’t keep long and we will work on the economic challenge.
“Those who are seeking to govern this country, I don’t understand them. They aren’t providing any alternative. They actually don’t have anything to offer,” he subtly jabbed the NDC.
With the comments of Mr Osafo-Marfo in mind, Mr Mahama’s speech must set the tone for the Cabinet’s deliberation and the President’s address to the nation on Sunday.
