Hail Akufo-Addo, embrace burden-sharing concept – Otchere-Darko

Danquah Institute founder Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko has called on Ghanaians to hail his cousin, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his economic management team, for steering the country’s economy through extraordinary difficulties in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Mr Otchere-Darko, Ghanaians must embrace the burden-sharing concept of 2021 to reap together the benefits of defeating COVID-19.

Mr Otchere-Darko said these in a post on Facebook.

It read: “We must hail President Akufo-Addo and his economic management team for steering Ghana’s economy through the extraordinary difficulties of 2020. Let’s embrace the burden-sharing concept of 2021 to reap together the benefits of defeating COVID-19 and boosting growth, as we transform the economy. The investor confidence is back. Let’s ride with it.

It is recalled that Finance Minister-designate Ken Ofori-Atta urged Ghanaians to share the government’s burden by accepting the new tax obligations presented in the 2021 budget.

Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee to be vetted on Thursday, 25 March 2021, Mr Ofori-Atta stated that the new taxes imposed will help the economy to grow.

Describing the new taxes as a “battle-cry”, he said: “We need to move forward. We need to burden-share”, adding: “We need to create a society that we can also share the opportunities as we grow”.

He further commended the government for its efforts at ensuring economic resilience even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If you look at what the Akufo-Addo government has been able to do between 2017 and 2020, it is phenomenal,” he praised.

“If we had not built up the resilience, I think COVID would have devastated us beyond what we are seeing”, Mr Ofori-Atta argued.

“So, we move forward together. We bring these new revenue measures in place…” he added.