Mahama delivering only poverty – CPP

The Mahama administration is delivering nothing but poverty to the people of Ghana, the Convention People’s Party (CPP) has said.

“I think that all nations aspire to prosperity. All people aspire to prosperity. The people of Ghana want prosperity. Unfortunately, we have in Ghana a government whose policy now only delivers poverty,” CPP’s General Secretary Nii Armah Akomfrah told Class91.3fm’s Ekow Mensah-Shalders on the Executive Breakfast Show on Thursday, January 21.

“Water prices went up in the last year [by] 20%, then 15% now 70%. Where on this planet do you get this relentless price rises against people? Where on this planet do you get a government that is waging such war on its own people?

He wondered why electricity tariffs went up by 40% then 100% and now 60%.

“Petrol prices relentlessly going up, a whopping increase in misery and hardship on our people. Every policy that this government introduces delivers poverty. The IMF delivers poverty, their EPA delivers poverty, their GMO seeds deliver poverty to poor farmers, the NDC has become a government of poverty. This ‘kakai’ government is a government of poverty. Did we vote for them to make us poorer?” Mr Akomfrah asked.

The prices of petroleum products recently went up by 27% following the passage of the energy sector levy by parliament. The government also recently introduced a number of income taxes, including a 1% withholding tax on earnings of investments incomes of ordinary citizens. It was later suspended after heavy criticism. Also, tariffs of electricity and water went up by 59.2% and 67.2%, respectively. Organised Labour held a nationwide demonstration on Wednesday, January 20th to get the government to reduce increases, across the board, to 50%. They were to follow up with a two-day nationwide strike but they put that on hold as negotiations continue with the government.