Akufo-Addo ‘monumentally incompetent’ – Fifi Kwetey

The failure of the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to provide water for the people of his constituency, Abuakwa North, for the 12 years he served as a Member of Parliament and the seven years he served as Cabinet Minister, smacks of “monumental incompetence”, Fiifi Kwetey, Minister of Transport, has said.

Addressing a press conference in Accra as part of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s ‘Setting the Records Straight’ series ahead of the December polls, Mr Kwetey said: “Incompetence is when a flag bearer who is making claims of being able to transform Ghana was unable to provide even basic potable water to his own constituency even though he was MP for twelve long years and a Cabinet Minister for seven years – that is the definition of incompetence.

“Incompetence is when a running mate of that same flag bearer goes round promising to remove taxes on pensions without even knowing that no tax exists on pensions in Ghana. That actually is monumental incompetence. Incompetence is when a party fails to appreciate that one cannot simultaneously be opposed to increased taxation and increased borrowing and at the same time claiming to be able to bring transformation and prosperity to Ghana; it is not just possible…”

Taking a jab at the previous NPP administration, Mr Kwetey said drug money flowed freely in Ghana and masked an extremely ailing economy under former President John Kufuor.

He said the NDC government has also managed the economy better than the NPP. “In fact, this year, we anticipate that the total compensation package is going to hit about GHS12 billion plus and NDC has still been able to manage that and still keeps the economy well in spite of these very huge challenges,” Mr Kwetey added.

According to him, despite the huge challenges, the NDC has “never throughout all these eight years had to resort to using Eurobond money to pay salaries or to sell any national assets in a bid to stay afloat; no, we have never had to resort to that”.

“There is unanimity that the economic outlook as we approach the eight years of the Mills-Mahama government is great. There is huge confidence and positive expectation because of the competence with which the Mahama-led government has navigated through the turbulent waters and brought the country on the cusp of a bright future,” he stated.

According to him, “Growth expectations are high, currency stability has returned, inflation looks set to trend downwards to sustainable basis, fiscal deficit is increasingly more under control, domestic and foreign investor confidence is increasing more and more and our latest information is actually showing that even the credit rating agencies are about to do a positive revision of Ghana’s rating again because the future absolutely is looking very bright under the very competent leadership of John Mahama.”

Comparing that with the term of the NPP with Mr Kufuor as President, Mr Kwetey said in 2008 when the NPP was finishing its term, it had “lost control of the cedi, inflation had reached 18%, gross reserves barely enough to cover two months of imports, Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and Ghana Commercial Bank were on their knees, non-performing loans in the banking sector were at an all-time high,” with a budget deficit of 15% and a budget overrun of 11% and a “massive” arrears of over GHS4 billion altogether “painted the picture of an economy that was gravely ill, yet this was an economy where cocaine cash was flowing very freely”.