Don’t undermine Akufo-Addo’s young government – Prof. Adei tells critics

Former rector of the Ghana Institute of Public Administration (GIMPA), Prof. Stephen Adei, has said President Nana Akufo-Addo, needs more time and space to implement his policies and programmes for the country, as promised.

According to the professor, being in government for just some few months, is not enough to go about criticizing and undermining the young administration.

“I think that we must give him the benefit of the doubt and encourage [him] rather than undermine his efforts”, Prof. Adei said recently on the sidelines of a book launch at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra.

The book, Pursuit of Jubilee was authored by a founding member of the E .O Group George Yaw Owusu, who is credited with the discovery of crude oil in commercial quantities in Ghana some 10 years ago..

He mentioned that, the clampdown on illegal mining popularly called galamsey by the government, was something that was commendable considering the havoc the illegal activity was causing the nation.

“For example, what we are hearing about the galamsey, is something we have not heard before, and we are already seeing some improvement with the galamsey, though it’s still going on”, adding “I’m just coming from Ashanti, there are some galamsey, a lot of them still going on, but you should have seen the beginning of dealing with it”.

Prof. Adei, who sounded hopeful, said it was only proper that the six months old government, is given the benefit of the doubt, as it moves to right the wrongs of the past.

Earlier, in a statement while serving as chairman for the event, Prof. Adei said among others that, he had always believed that Ghana could do better, except that it has not challenged itself enough.

He said, Ghana has a lot of potentials, enormous human resources among others, but it has failed to harness them for the benefit of the country, because of petty politics, and so the nation is suffering after 60 years of independence.

The professor, said during the 2016 electioneering campaign, when the now president said he was going to implement the free Senior High School (SHS) programme, and people doubted and countered him, he wondered if that was all his critics could say?

“One of the things I have observed within my keen interest is how systematically one regime after another in Ghana, has destroyed our economic entrepreneurs. Am aware of Ghanaians, who were very optimistic about our future, despite what we have done or not done in 60 years”, he said.

The ex-GIMPA boss, insisted that “the potential of our nation to grow at double digit by harnessing our tremendous natural resources; the human potentials like the Owusus, we are celebrating today, is so enormous but the tragic is that we haven’t been able to convert this into reality to make Ghana, great and strong”.

According to him “during the recent electioneering campaign, I heard a lot of people talk about over ambitious plans of Nana Akufo-Addo, can it be done? And I said what are we talking about?

“I believe that our full potentials will be realized”, he said optimistically.

“I believe we have too long short-changed ourselves. Here is a country which loses about 3billion, can we turn things around, my response is yes, provided certain basic things are put in place, some of them I have just mentioned”.

He mentioned that, the way to go was to have “quality, competent, just and capable political leadership, committed to making Ghana great and strong”.

“Secondly, we can’t go that far, unless we reduce corruption to the barest minimum, which at this moment in our recent history, seems to be increasing and becoming part of our DNA, as a nation”. According to him, the Akufo-Addo’s Free SHS, is doable

“We are talking about the average Ghanaian child having the opportunity to go to secondary school before terminating [Education]. In fact, every middle income country has that. So when people were asking whether it is doable, do you know what I was thinking about, is this all we can do after 60 years?