Ghana is a 'beggar nation' today - Mahama to Akufo-Addo

Ex-President John Dramani Mahama has taken a swipe at the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo after he admonished African leaders to stop begging the West.

President Nana Addo urged the leaders to earn global respect and change poor perceptions about the African continent stressing "if we stop being beggars and spend African money inside the continent, Africa will not need to ask for respect from anyone, we will get the respect we deserve. If we make it prosperous as it should be, respect will follow".

He made the remarks during the opening of the US-Africa Leaders' Summit in Washington DC.

"Africans are more resilient outside the continent than inside. We must bear in mind that to the outside world, [there's] nothing like Nigeria, Ghana or Kenya, we are simply Africans. Our destiny as people depends on each other," he added.

Delivering a speech at the NDC delegates conference, Mr. John Mahama mocked the President for preaching virtue but practicing vice.

"Our dear country, Ghana, that has been a poster boy of democracy, good governance and economic progress stands on the brink of bankruptcy and economic ruin. Yet, we have a President who enjoys sprouting the rhetoric of self-suspect and restrain from begging western nations for support and yet he has spent the last several weeks on the telephone with western leaders asking them to beg the IMF to grant Ghana the recently announced staff-level agreement for an extended credit facility. Our dear nation has never been so put to shame and come close to being a beggar nation as we are today", he stated.

He further said "this NPP government has done the worst to erode the belief of Ghanaians in our democracy. Many Ghanaians see their situation as hopeless and are willing to take the hazards of dying in the Mediterranean sea or electrocution on a high tension transmission line in Kasoa".

Mr. Mahama however urged Ghanaians not to lose hope.

"...countrymen and women, let us not despair; they say the darkest hour is before the dawn and they also say, in every adversity, we find opportunity and Bob Marley also say when one door is closed, another is opened. Ghana shall rise to a new dawn!"