John Dramani Mahama (left), and Mahamudu Bawumia ( right)
Let’s be honest, anybody who harbours an isolated thinker’s view that the globally diffused coronavirus and Russia/Ukraine conflict have nothing to do with Ghana’s economic challenges is being economical with the truth.
The Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration, before the insidious coronavirus, made
important gains towards macroeconomic stability, including inflation, which declined to a single digit and within the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG’s) tolerance band; buoyant growth, averaging about five percent, over six percent in 2017-18) and a primary surplus in 2017 for the first time in 15 years (IMF 2018).
Take, for instance, the then Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms. Christine Lagarde observed that the Ghanaian economy, before the unspeakable coronavirus, was in a better place than it was in the previous years under the John Dramani Mahama administration.
The veteran journalist, Kweku Baako Jnr hit the nail on the head when he pointed out on Joy FM’s political show (News File) on Saturday 6/04/2019 that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration performed exceedingly better in the first two years than the erstwhile NDC government led by former President Mahama.
Critiquing the state of the economy in the first two years of the two administrations, Kweku Baako Jnr aptly and forthrightly concluded that the economy is in better shape under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration than it was under the Mahama administration.
Baako Jnr, therefore, asserted poignantly: “There’s no doubt that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration has done far better than the Mahama/Amissah administration; it’s as simple as that, the figures and the records support it (myjoyonline.com, 6/04/2019).”
The then Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, observed: “Ghana met the targets for halving extreme poverty and halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water, and it achieved the goals relating to universal primary education, and gender parity in primary school.”
The next on the list of observers on Ghana’s auspicious economy is the Nigerian scholar, who gave a presentation at the NDC’s forum, in which he emphasised Ghana’s thriving economic growth under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration.
The Bloomberg News, for example, predicted Ghana to become “Africa’s fastest-growing economy in 2018 “and Ghana was proclaimed “Star of Africa in 2018 Lenders’ Economic Forecasts”.
Reporting on the same fiscal policy achievements, Le Monde pointed out that “Ghana’s economic success is not just as the result of an oil-driven boom, but is also due to prudent economic management, an entrepreneurial population, the role of traditional leaders, and good governance.”
In Mahama’s time in office, despite the absence of pernicious coronavirus or Ukraine/Russia impasse, Ghanaians became fed-up with the extremely harsh conditions amid corruption allegations (Bus branding, Brazil World Cup, SADA, SUBA, GYEEDA, SSNIT, MASLOC, NCA, Ford Expedition Vehicle, amongst others).
If Mahama is not taking Ghanaians for granted, how on earth would he consider returning to the presidency given the dreadful errors in judgment during his tenure in office?
It is quite erroneous for anybody to assert somewhat anecdotally that Ghana’s economy under Mahama (3.4% growth and 15.4% inflation) was better than Akufo-Addo/Bawumia record before the insidious coronavirus (8.6% growth and 7.5% inflation).
Where was the sound economic foundation when the Mahama administration wilfully
dragged 14% economic growth in 2011 to 3.4% by December 2016 in the absence of the deadly coronavirus.
How can Mahama and cohort claim excellence in economic management when single-digit inflation took a flight to 15.4% by December 2016 in the absence of the Russia/Ukraine war?
How can Mahama audaciously claim a solid economic foundation when the agricultural sector grew in negative figures consistently in the absence of the armyworm invasion?
Where was the favourable economic foundation when the industry sector grew appallingly over the years?
How can Mahama proudly beat his chest and claim ownership of a solid economic foundation when the GDP shrunk from GH47 billion in 2011 to GH40 billion by December 2016?
Where was the sound economic management when the erstwhile Mahama administration
spent profligately thereby raising Ghana’s debt from $9.5 billion in 2009 to a staggering $122.4 billion by December 2016 in the absence of the globally diffused coronavirus or Russia/Ukraine conflict?
Where was the solid economic foundation when former President Mahama unabashedly
claimed that his administration had edaciously consumed all the meat on the bone?
The fact of the matter is that the late Mills left a sound economic growth of 14% and Mahama reversed it to 3.4%, the late Mills left the agricultural growth of 7.4% and Mahama dragged it to 2.5%, the late Mills single-digit inflation was reversed to 15.4%, GDP of GH47 billion shrunk to GH40 billion by Mahama.
It was, therefore, not quite surprising when the unhappy 56.5 % of the electorates voted Mahama out in 2016 and 51.2% voted against him in 2020.
Ghana’s economic growth, just before the inexpressible coronavirus, stood at around 8.6% from 3.4% in December 2016.
Interestingly, in the first two years of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration, the industry sector recorded the highest growth rate of 16.7 percent, followed by Agriculture at 8.4 percent and Services at 4.3 percent.
Services share of GDP decreased from 56.8 percent in 2016 to 56.2 percent in 2017. The sector's growth rate also decreased from 5.7 percent in 2016 to 4.3 percent in 2017.
However, two of the subsectors in the services sector recorded double-digit growth rates, including Information and Communication at 13.2 percent and Health and Social Work at 14.4 percent.
The Industry sector, the highest-growing sector with a GDP share of 25.5 percent, had its growth rate increasing from -0.5 percent in 2016 to 16.7 percent in 2017.
The Mining and Quarrying subsector recorded the highest growth of 46.7 percent in 2017.
The Agriculture sector expanded from a growth rate of 3.0 percent in 2016 to 8.4 percent in 2017. Its share of GDP, however, declined from 18.7 percent in 2016 to 18.3 percent in 2017.
Crops remain the largest activity with a share of 14.2 percent of GDP.
The Non-Oil annual GDP growth rate decreased from 5.0 percent in 2016 to 4.9 percent in 2017. The 2017 Non-oil GDP for industry recorded a growth rate of 0.4 percent, compared with 4.9 percent in 2016. Growth in the fourth quarter of 2017 reached 8.1 percent compared to 9.7 percent in the third quarter (GSS, 2018).
Former President, Mahama and his NDC administration failed to end the dumsor, failed to implement the one-time NHIS premium, jobs were not readily available for the jobless, the economy sunk deeper and deeper into the mire, they reneged on their promise to keep ‘lean’ government, Ghanaians became poorer and poorer, sleazes and corruption escalated to immeasurable proportions, endless borrowings amongst others.
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