Chairman of the Council of Elders of the National Democratic Congress in South Africa, Mr. Benjamin Kofi Quashie has made the strongest case yet for the re-election of former President John Mahama as the country goes to the polls in December next year.
Mr. Quashie who pointed to what he saw as unparalleled contributions of the Mahama-led administration to Ghana’s development, accused President Akufo-Addo of scamming his way into power.
Speaking on varied issues in an interview with Class TV on Friday, he noted that despite the global crises which affected every country, Ghana would have been better off if it had better managers running it.
President Akufo-Addo addressing members of the Private Enterprise Federation at their Annual General Meeting, as the Special Guest of Honour, in December 2016 declared:
“I have said it and I will repeat it again those who are coming into this administration thinking that it is an avenue for making money are going to be disappointed.
“They better go to the private sector that is where people make money, not in government.”
Recalling the president’s statement which he made prior to forming his government, the Council of Elders Chairman asserted that President Akufo-Addo has ended up rather doing the opposite.
“Though Akufo-Addo told us in the past that if you want to enrich yourself go to the private sector and not in his government, we have seen that, that is the biggest scam,” he stressed.
He added, “He himself has presided over a number of fraud that are hampering our development”.
Benjamin Quashie noted that President Mahama’s government realized that for economic transformation to take place, you need to start with infrastructure.
This, he said, Mahama did by ensuring that basic amenities and facilities were in place under his leadership.
“But unfortunately, he was questioned whether we will eat road or hospital, but you need to make these sacrifices as Mahama did to grow the economy; he will follow the same trajectory of rapid economic transformation when re-elected,” he stated.
He further added that when John Mahama was president, Ghanaians were not overburdened with excessive taxes, yet he was voted out based on certain policies Ghanaians didn’t agree with him or accept. He was therefore surprised that after years in office, the Akufo-Addo government wants to use those things to justify their non-performance.
According to Mr. Quashie, Mahama didn’t do even one-third of the negative things happening under the current government.
He therefore admonished journalists to be truthful to themselves and expose the negative deeds of the Akufo-Addo-led government.
“Journalists in the country put Mahama on his toe to demand accountability, but today they have gone to sleep”, he said accusing the media of been influenced by the government.