A member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Finance, Daniel Okyem Aboagye has chided members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for persistently criticizing government over what they term excessive borrowing.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Bantama in the Ashanti Region has described NDC’s criticisms on the economy as “irresponsible, illogical and dishonest”.
Mr. Okyem Aboagye’s censure against the leading opposition party comes in the wake of recent comments by the ranking member of finance committee Cassiel Ato Forson on Ghana’s debt stock.
He has asserted that Ato Forson who doubles as the MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam in the Central region and former Deputy Finance Minister was only trying to downplay the achievements of Akufo-Addo-led government, describing his argument as baseless and incoherent.
Cassiel Ato Forson is reported to have said each Ghanaian owes GH¢7,836 if the country’s public debt of GH¢236.1 billion is shared among all 30 million citizens.
According to Mr. Forson, data from the Bank of Ghana reveals that Ghana’s debt increased from GH¢120.3 billion in December 2016 to GH¢236.1 billion by 31 March 2020.
He accused President Akufo-Addo of adding GH¢116 billion to the public debt in just three years and a few months in power.
But Mr. Okyem Aboagye speaking on “Yensempa” morning show on Onua FM on Tuesday, asked the general public to treat comments on the economy by the NDC with contempt because they have nothing to offer Ghanaians.
He told the host Nana Yaw Opare that when the NDC was in power it mismanaged Ghana’s economy making it difficult for businesses to survive let alone pay employees.
“Slow down your bias argument on the economy for opposition is not madness, so that we clear the mess you created when in government”.
“Borrowing for development or proper management of the economy is not a problem, it only becomes problematic when it is invested wrongly like the NDC invested in guinea fowl which later flown to Burkina Faso,” he teased.
He touted the achievements of Akufo-Addo’s government, noting it has restored the energy sector, restored nurses and teachers allowance, employed over 56,000 nurses, reduced unemployment rate, implemented Free Senior High School Policy, constructed asphaltic roads and has reduced the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate from 9.4 percent to 3.4 percent.
The legislature boasted about the leadership skills of President Akufo-Addo in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic which he said has attracted international recognition and appealed to Ghanaians to maintain NPP in power for longer period to develop the country.
By Maxwell Otoo | Onua FM |3news.com