Today in History: I feel shame – KKD expresses disappointment in Akufo-Addo’s government

KKD did not mince words when he slammed the Akufo-Addo government for failing to deliver despite promising Ghanaians heaven.

In a publication on GhanaWeb on May 4, 2022, the media personality expressed utmost disappointment in the government, stressing "I feel shame".

Below is the article.

Revered broadcaster and Master of Ceremonies, Kwasi Kyei Darkwah has said he is unenthused about the performance of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration considering that the president, during the election campaign period promised to elevate the living standards of the Ghanaian people by providing suitable solutions to the financial challenges that had engulfed the citizenry.

Having raised the hopes of Ghanaians high with his promises, the narrative, according to KKD as the showbiz personality is affectionately called, has sadly been the reverse.

In his submission on GTV’s breakfast show, Wednesday, KKD recalled how Nana Akufo-Addo chastised then John Mahama government for superintending economic hardship despite the natural resources the country has.

Without equivocation, KKD said he feels ashamed whenever he plays back such comments by Nana Addo and compares to the current situation, stressing that there is a huge contradiction.

“I have seen governments stay in government and go into opposition. And I have listened to their rhetoric and my job is rhetoric. I have all those recordings, I can play them back-to-back and contradict them and see how we promised, how we told people ‘yete sika so nso, ekom de yen’.

“When I listen to that now, and I look at Nana Addo, a man I have personally admired for over 35 years, I feel shame,” he said in the interview monitored by GhanaWeb.

He continued: “I feel shame because some of his coteries should have sat around him and said ‘Opanin, because of this, let us divert this, let us avert this, let us do this’”.

KKD’s comment is on the back of the implementation of the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) which commenced on May 1, 2022.

The implementation of the new 1.5% value tax on all electronic transactions above 100 Ghana cedi has been met with dissatisfaction from a section of the Ghanaian populace.

On more than two occasions, the debate over the tax turned chaotic in parliament as the opposition kicked against it while the Akufo-Addo government insisted it will help raise over 900 million dollars and address the problems of unemployment and high public debt.

In his interview on BBC, President Akufo-Addo argued that Ghana is undertaxed. When asked why he is “taxing people on money that has already been taxed”, the president said “It’s emerging as the biggest economy in the country and for a long period has not had any taxation at all. So, it’s important now that they also come into the net. Our country has one of the lowest tax to GDP ratios of any country in West Africa and of an equivalent economy.

“The ECOWAS area, the general average, today, tax to GDP average is about 18%. Ghana- we are at 13%, so if you’re talking about a country that is already overtaxed, if anything at all, it’s undertaxed.”



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