Nana Akufo Addo is in his second year of the four year mandate but there is widespread disappointment among the Ghanaian people with his performance as the President of the Republic. There is a strong perception that Akufo Addo spent most of last eighteen months either on blaming his predecessor John Mahama, or foreign tours, or commissioning projects completed by his predecessor.
Akufo Addo promised millions of jobs a year, but instead close to a million jobs meant for the 18-30 age group were lost over the last eighteen months. There is an undercurrent of anger among the middle class population over having to pay excessive taxes, which has led to historically high prices of gasoline and diesel.
The previous administration of John Mahama, lifted thousands of people above the poverty line between 2014 and 2016. However, no one has any clue as to whether the present administration is doing anything substantive to uplift the poor. Contrary to government’s propaganda in the media, agriculture which had seen fivefold increase under John Mahama administration, have since come down by 21%. At the same time, agriculture imports have risen by more than 60%. Banks are collapsing and new investment is the lowest it has been in 13 years.
These developments have made people very angry at Akufo Addo’s government. Between 2017 and 2018, total bad loans including non performing assets increased astronomically. So whatever happened in the banking sector was clearly due to acts of commission or omission of the Akufo Addo government. Government has absorbed debts and written off corporate loans of the collapsed banks amounting to billions of cedis. This ridiculous generosity to the corporates is compensated by recapitalization and consolidation of the banks through public funding. This, in other words, means that the ordinary Ghanaian citizen is bailing out those private banks while millions of poor farmers are struggling hard to get fertiliser and good seedlings.
Every year thousands of young people enter the Ghanaian workforce, and providing them all with job would necessitate economic expansion of at least 10% per annum. But financial mismanagement by the Akufo Addo government has resulted in failures on all fronts, particularly in creating jobs, addressing agriculture crisis and helping uplift the poor.
No one knows what is happening to Akufo Addo’s one village one dam, one district one factory project, while many promises on NHIS, doubling of salaries, tax reduction, fuel price reduction and so forth have fallen short.
Unfortunately, Akufo Addo has tried to prove himself more as a successful speaker than trying to be an agent of change. The administration has failed on every conceivable metric, from economy to security.
President Akufo Addo is practising nuclear nepotism. One of the sins of President Akufo Addo is the clannishness that has characterised his administration. The President and his Vice have appointed the following friends, relatives and son and daughters into their administration.
PRESIDENT
– Ken Ofori Atta Cousin Finance Minister
-Gyankroma Daughter (Creative Art Council)
-Nana Asante Bediatuo (President’s executive secretary)
-Samuel Atta Akyea Cousin (Works and Housing)
-Kwesi Amoako Atta Cousin( Transport Minister)
-Gloria Akuffo (Attorney General)
-Duke Ofori Atta
-Nana Adwoa Hackman
-Nana Yaa Ofori Atta
-Fredua Ofori Atta
-Rhodaline Baafour Gyimah
-Mrs Baafour Gyimah
-Alex Baafour Gyimah
-Dr Edward Kwapong
-Kwame Akufo (Member of the Board of Petroleum downstream regulator, the National Petroleum Authority
-Virginia Hesse
-Eno Ofori Atta (Dep Managing Director of SIC.
-Alice Ofori Atta (Tema TDC)
-Enoch Ofori Atta
-Samuel Ofori Atta Ampofo (GHAPOHA)
-Michael Asare Bediako
-Nana Ansaa Boakye cousin
-Anthony Boahene cousin
Friends of President’s cousin (Data Bank)
-Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh ( ,Director General SEC)
-Ernest A more
-Sampson Akligoh
-Felicia Gyimah Ashley
-Daaku Kwakye
They’ll working at the BoG.
-Ernestina Asafo Boakye ( GRA)
-Keli Gadzekpo
-Yaw Ankoma Danso cousin
-Nana Boakye (GRA) cousin
-Doris Ofori Atta niece (SIC)
-Sophia Akuffo (Chief Justice)
-Ama Fredua (Ghapoha)
-Anthony Dankwa
-Dr Ofori Atta
-Eugenia Ampofo (Works and Housing
-Oheneba Boakye
-Prince Ampofo Ofori Atta
VICE PRESIDENT
-Mr Ramadan – in law (Ambassador)
-Abu Ramadan (brother in law (NADMO BOSS)
-Mumuni Abdulai Bawumia ( Technical Advisor to the Interior Minister)
Friends and allies of president
-Gina Blah
-Kofi Bosompem Osafo Marfo ( SSNIT)
-Gyimah Osafo Marfo (Deputy General NCA)
-Mike Ocquaye Junior (Ambassador)
-Rosemary Adom Otchere (Board Member Free Zones Authority)
Instead of focusing on the promises he made in opposition for which he was elected, the President is still blaming his predecessor for his abysmal performance. Before taking over executive seat, the world bank and other institutions in 2015/16 had projected 8% growth in the economy because of investments the previous administration made in the oil and gas sectors. The county’s decades old problem (Power crisis) had been solved by the previous administration, the cedi had recovered and was rated the second most stable currency in West Africa, Ghana was rated the best in West Africa in terms of human development index….so why the blame game.
On corruption, Transparency International’s latest report on corruption in Africa revealed that corruption has increased astronomically under Akufo Addo. Corruption has become a culture in this administration with the President shielding corrupt appointees. The BOST case, the $2.25 bond, the Kelni GVG deal the digital addressing system, the ID Card Registration deal, Cash for seat, etc
PART 1
