Akufo-Addo's first year 'commendable' – ISSER Fellow

A Fellow at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Dr Charles Ackah, has noted that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has performed remarkably in his first year in office.

According to him, the overall assessment of the government from a macroeconomic perspective indicates the government did well for a young administration.

“The overall assessment of the Akufo-Addo government from the macroeconomic point of view seems to be positive,” Dr Ackah said on Thursday at a roundtable organised by the Center for Democratic Development (CDD) to assess President Akufo-Addo’s first year in office.

Dr Ackah continued: “It…looks commendable [even though] it is just one year and given the background that the economy has had some challenges for some years, we would like to think that this is a good stability.”

“… And we expect that more should be done this year [2018] so that we can actually see more growth and more expansion in job creation,” he added.

Also speaking at the same event, a senior Research Fellow at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr Kojo Asante disagreed with President Akufo-Addo for suggesting that citizens who level corruption allegations against individuals in government should have proof.

For him, such allegations should trigger probes, indicating that the President’s comment has the potential to discourage whistleblowers when there could be some substance to what is being alleged.

"It should not be the duty of the citizen. Yes, people can allege, but then it should be a trigger for an investigation by the appropriate authorities, to then come to a conclusion.

“That is our mandate as citizens, to ensure that the public purse is protected, so, if I come to you and allege that someone has done something, it is your job as the executive with the investigative body to go and investigate,” he stated at a programme.

Dr Asante was emphatic that such an issue is not like cases being tried in “some courts of law where the person who alleges is the one that has to come and provide evidence and defend”, adding: “This insistence that people should bring evidence is wrong”.