A former Deputy Minister of Finance and member of parliament-elect for Cape Coast South Constituency, George Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, has criticised President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for advising the incoming Mahama administration not to default on debt repayments during his final State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Speaking after the President’s address on Friday, January 3, 2024, Ricketts-Hagan argued that Akufo-Addo’s advice lacked moral integrity, given his government’s record of over-borrowing and defaulting on debts.
“A President and a government who have over-borrowed for the last 8 years and defaulted on its debts, including unilaterally halting external debt payments, have no moral authority to lecture President Mahama on the subject of debt and defaults,” Ricketts-Hagan said.
He further defended the record of former President John Dramani Mahama, stating,
“President Mahama, in his first term, never defaulted on the country’s debt servicing, neither domestic nor external. The country was never downgraded by credit rating agencies for non-payment of debts, and our debt of GH¢120 billion as of December 2016 was sustainable.”
Ricketts-Hagan contrasted this with the current state of Ghana’s finances under President Akufo-Addo’s leadership.
“Nana Akufo-Addo has taken the debt stock to a staggering GH¢807.8 billion as of September 2024, and has presided over a debt-ridden, bankrupt nation with reckless and wasteful expenditure by an endemically corrupt government,” he stated.
He concluded, “Nana Akufo-Addo should give us a break and spare us the 11th-hour lecture on debt management, something he clearly knows nothing about, judging by his record.”
What Akufo-Addo said about debt repayments
In his final State of the Nation Address, President Akufo-Addo emphasised the importance of maintaining Ghana’s financial commitments.
He advised the incoming finance minister to ensure that the country never defaults on its debt repayments.
The President made this statement while announcing that the government would pay Eurobond holders $346 million on January 3, 2025.
“I am happy to inform the House that today, 3rd January 2025, my government will honour coupon payments to our Eurobond holders amounting to three hundred forty-six million US dollars ($346 million),” he said.
“We cannot afford to default on our debt repayments. That’s the advice I want to give to the incoming finance minister,” Akufo-Addo added.
Also, watch videos from Akufo-Addo's final State of the Nation Address in Parliament below:
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