Minority shocked at government's performance – Nyindam

The Majority Chief Whip, Mathew Nyindam, has said the minority members in parliament are dazed by the level of performance of the Akufo-Addo-led government which has been in office for the past eleven months.

According to him, government has demonstrated clearly its commitment at fulfilling all promises in a bid to improve the living conditions of Ghanaians. This, he said, has surprised the minority who thought the promises were utopian and therefore could not be fulfilled.

His comments come on the heels of claims by the minority that Ghana risks being a Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) by 2019 due to the reckless management of the economy by the Akufo-Addo government.

At a roundtable on Monday, 13th November in Accra, ahead of the presentation of the 2018 budget to parliament on Wednesday, 13th November, Ranking member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Cassiel Ato Forson, said: “Unfortunately, the state will be ending the year with s Debt-to-GDP ratio to approximately 73.6 percent.

“When the Energy Bond and the UT/Capital Bank bond is added, the Debt-to-GDP will rise to 76.8 percent from 72.5 [inherited from the previous government]. Ghana is heading toward HIPC. Ladies and gentlemen, don’t be surprised if by the end of 2019, we are declared HIPC,” the MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam constituency added.

But Mr Nyindam who was speaking in an interview with Class 91.3FM’s Parliamentary Correspondent, Ekow Annan, stated : “I am happy they are predicting next year, I am so happy because I am very hopeful that Ghanaians will live to see what will happen in 2018 . So if somebody is preempting doom, it is up to Ghanaians to wait and see what will happen.

“As a government, [in] 2016 when we got the opportunity to lead, in 2017 we could have reneged on the promises that we promised the people of this country but we didn’t. A huge programme like the free Senior High School (SHS) education nationwide was implemented under Nana Addo's first term and Ghanaians are enjoying free secondary school education.

“Go to the Teacher Training Colleges, they are enjoying their allowances. Go to the nursing training colleges, they are receiving their allowance and the NDC has the guts to say Ghanaians are suffering, I am so disappointed.

“We are not going to be chopping the money the way they chopped and for that matter we need to put the framework together and make sure that the moneis that will go to the various areas are properly monitored, hence the Northern Development Authority and the Coastal Belt".