The former local government and governance expert in the erstwhile John Dramani Mahama’s NDC administration, Mr. Akwasi Opong-Fosu, has disclosed that the Akufo-Addo-led administration has been marked by lawlessness, hopelessness, grand scheme corruption, and leadership paralysis.
He claimed that every sector of Ghana’s economy under Akufo-Addo has suffered, resulting in high costs of living and untold economic hardships.
“Ghana is on the dangerous path of a potential catastrophe,” he said.
He made the remarks at the NDC’s East London branch of the UK chapter over the weekend for its annual conference in the United Kingdom, where he was honored as the guest speaker.
He said the current administration under the watch of President Akufo-Addo has failed woefully to restore the nation’s economy.
Mr. Fosu also touched on major happenings in the country and its neighboring West African sub regions, which he said should be taken seriously and addressed.
Speaking on the theme dubbed “Rethinking Leadership and Governance for the Ghana We Want: Role of the Diaspora”, Mr. Fosu said:
“As a country, we are in a crisis that is verging on a national catastrophe. The crisis is a result of leadership failure, democratic governance dysfunction, the meltdown of state institutions, the plunder of national resources, and an unprecedented economic decline. All these self-inflicted factors have converged to tilt the country towards social and political instability. We have to do things differently and urgently so as to avoid the consequences of the dark clouds looming over our heads”.
Mr. Kwasi Oppong Fosu, who was passionate about the happenings in the country, echoed that as a nation.
“We stand dangerously on a cliff’s edge. When your neighbor’s beard is on fire, you should have water ready to quench yours. There are two very important issues that can trigger a disruption in our democratic governance as we head towards the 2024 general elections and after.”
He thus explained that anything close to attempts to subvert the will of the citizenry for a change will give vent to bottled-up anger and its attendant sociopolitical unrest.
He also stressed that if and when a new government continues with the process of transaction politics, corruption, and insensitivity to the needs of the people, the unexpected will happen.
He reiterated that in the context of the country’s economy, an economist, referring to the vice president, Dr. Bawumia, who is an accomplice of a group motivated by a grand scheme to plunder and recklessly dissipate financial and natural resources, cannot in any way transform a country he previously made the whole world believe he had weak fundamentals and for which he had the magic wand to turn it around, adding that whatever fundamentals were inherited have been ruined.
He stressed that the President Akufo-Addo/Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia-led administration’s reckless borrowing, excessive spending, and poor management have destroyed the nation’s economy.
By Lawrence Odoom