The Chairman of the Council of Elders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in South Africa, Mr. Benjamin Kofi Quashie, has assured Ghanaians that the full details of the mismanagement under the Akufo-Addo-led government will be unveiled in the coming days.
“I’m happy that finally the long wait is over. His Excellency [John Mahama] will be sworn in. The team that he is going to work with will put the figures there and we will see from them,” he said on Joy Prime on Monday, January 6, 2025.
President-elect John Dramani Mahama is set to be inaugurated on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, following his resounding victory in the December 2024 general elections.
Assessing the performance of the outgoing New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, Mr. Quashie criticized the discrepancies between the financial figures and statements previously presented by the government and the findings uncovered during the transition process.
“The president had no other choice than to let the people know the truth as it is and I’m sure that when President Mahama is sworn into office officially tomorrow, we will delve into the figures. There are a lot of things that we have come across during the transition…
“You will be surprised, but I am hoping that from tomorrow, when His Excellency is sworn in, you will begin to see the rot that we have inherited as the NDC. But we are not going to the Ghanaian people with excuses. We are going to them with explanations and solutions to the problems,” he emphasized.
Mr. Quashie highlighted several issues, including the mismanagement of the Free SHS policy, the country’s escalating public debt particularly in the energy sector and alleged corruption involving public funds, such as the controversial National Cathedral project. He noted that these shortcomings had worsened the state of the economy, leaving President Mahama to inherit a challenging situation.
“The World Bank tells us that as of June 2024, our public debt was GH₵741.9 billion. In 2016, when the NDC was leaving power, the debt-to-GDP ratio was 55.6%. What is it today? The economy has been run down to a point where everyone sees how bleak things are,” he lamented.
Mr. Quashie further called on the outgoing government to take responsibility for its failures.
“I expected the President [Akufo-Addo] to start by apologizing to the good people of Ghana during his last State of the Nation Address. Instead, he defended his actions and painted a rosy picture that does not reflect the reality.”
He observed, “It is not something that we should be proud about as a people. We have made giant strides, yes I agree, but as a leader he was supposed to rally all of us around and say look I have promised A, B, C, D and I failed. I remember when President John Mahama was president and was delivering the state of the nation address, his final one.
“We had people like Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, then president-elect say that the president should accept responsibility for the things that have gone wrong and apologise to the Ghanaian people. He mentioned the exchange rate, he mentioned a lot of things that I feel that have become worse under his administration. That said, the Ghanaian people spoke and spoke loudly,” Mr. Quashie recounted.
Despite the challenges, Mr. Quashie reiterated the NDC’s commitment to finding bold solutions to restore hope to Ghanaians. He assured the public that the Mahama-led administration would prioritize transparency, accountability, and stakeholder engagement to rebuild the country.
“President Mahama is not going to run away from responsibility. He will work with his team and the Ghanaian people to fix the mess we have inherited. We are ready to hold ourselves accountable while ensuring those responsible for the nation’s decline are also held accountable,” he stated.
The swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday is expected to mark the beginning of a new era under the leadership of President Mahama, with high hopes for a more transparent and effective government to address the challenges facing Ghana.
Source: Newstitbits.com