No president has ever been so happy and bragged about his economic policies than his Excellency Nana Akufo Addo has done in the past twelve months. He is very proud of Ghana’s growth and also boasted about the free education offered hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren.
However, though he is convinced that he has done wonders for the economy, the least vitriolic reaction by the opposition in the media has always been that Nana Addo has done nothing and only assumed power through lies. This pertains to the issue of him criticising the old government for hikes in fuel prices and supervising high unemployment but having no solution in his tenure
Realistically, if you look beyond the frothy heights of some improved macroeconomic indicators and the reason why the very poor voted overwhelmingly for Nana Addo, then there is little sign that he has accomplished a lot for the masses. There is little sign that he has done anything special for the pockets of the masses.
The minority is trying to convince Ghanaians that Nana Addo in opposition only declared ‘war’ in his own political interest to assume power against one man: ex-president John Mahama. Their comment warrants that you don’t win the ‘war’ to assume power yet increase the misery of the people with high unemployment and fuel prices you preached against.
On assumption of power, this government continues to increase the common man’s burden – who is already bearing the brunt of high living costs. Many want to see government provide relief for the masses with jobs and subsidies.
To the common man, government should know that having high unemployment and fuel prices is anti-people policy. A government that preached against fuel price hikes is the very one who should know it has a cascading effect on commodity prices.
Government should know that using fuel price hikes as a campaign tool and doing the same is a cruel blow against the masses who are already suffering, due them disliking bad policies of the previous government which you inherited power from.
The recent decision by government to reduce fuel price (and criticism) is an admission of sensing danger in the people’s anger. The people will not tolerate such a government when spiralling prices continue in this era of hardship and high youth unemployment and underemployment.
A struggling economy coupled with high fuel prices has forced many graduates to stay home or take low-paid jobs. Many are underemployed and presently surviving on menial pay, professional prostitution, betting and Internet fraud.
If you visit betting firm offices you will be saddened by the numerous able youth that are caught up in gambling to survive. There are no jobs and so the springing-up of sports betting companies is a big relief for the hopeless youth.
Statistics are always good, but reality on the ground remains different. Though government has the right of excuse to blame the old government for causing an economic downturn, it however cannot be immune to criticism for increasing fuel prices and not effectively tackling high unemployment.
To wit, Nana Addo may have been sincere in complaining over the hardship in opposition; he may not have lied because it was the truth at that moment – but if he knew he had no solution to back his criticism of the previous government’s fuel price hikes and unemployment, then it’s more than unfortunate!
