'Ghana Beyond Aid' a lofty rhetoric to deceive Ghanaians - Ofosu Kwakye

Former Deputy Minister for Communications in the erstwhile Mahama administration has described as mere rhetoric, President Akufo-Addo’s Ghana beyond aid mantra.

According to him, it is a mere slogan “couched to hoodwink people into thinking that this government is unto something serious…”

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during Ghana’s 61st Independence Day celebration reiterated his commitment to building a Ghana Beyond Aid economy. According to President Akufo-Addo, to achieve a Ghana Beyond Aid we must effectively harness our own resources and creatively and efficiently deploy them for rapid economic and social transformation.

Clarifying this statement, Deputy Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said ‘Ghana Beyond Aid agenda is not intended to reject support from donors, but rather depend on local resources for the execution of its planned programs.

Speaking to this during a panel discussion on Radio Gold’s Alhaji and Alhaji, Felix Ofosu Kwakye said since the “ingredients that go to make up that policy propositions is completely missing”, “it means that again it is not a properly thought through initiative” and for that matter “it is just sloganeering and empty rhetoric”

“Having been confronted by the reality, you would have thought that he would adjust quickly and move away from that kind of sloganeering into the delivery of practical good and services for the people; that has not been materialised; indeed the sloganeering has intensified. It has moved a notch higher and it’s assuming unbelievable proportions…today he says there’s going to be Ghana beyond aid. The ingredients that go to make up that policy propositions is completely missing…it means that again it is not a properly thought through initiative; it is just sloganeering; empty rhetoric. The president appears to be mongering hope…what we require now in this our country is not lofty rhetoric; what we need is the delivery of the commitment that politicians make to the people. We don’t need a Winston Churchill or a John F. Kennedy to wao us with lofty rhetoric…

So clearly, it is yet another slogan couched to hoodwink people into thinking that this government is unto something serious…I have absolutely no confidence in this latest slogan of Ghana beyond aid. I am sure we have not heard the last of them; another slogan will emerge presently depending on what mood they are in when they wake up.”