By Isaac Arkoh
Cape Coast, Mar 31, GNA – Former President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday, concluded his three-day tour of the Central Region with a vow to fix the country’s wobbling economy if delegates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) gave him the mandate to lead the party in the 2024 general election.
Expressing a strong belief in winning the party’s presidential slot on Saturday, May 13, he accused the government of mismanaging the country’s economy since assuming office.
Rounding up his tour in Assin Central after visiting the Upper Denkyira West and Upper Denkyira East constituencies, he said “the Ghanaian economy has been collapsed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia with their ‘voracious appetite for borrowing’.
“The debt crisis, for which there are very few tangible projects to show for, and the worsening economic hardship of Ghanaians amply demonstrate the negative impact of a collapsed economy.”
Former President Mahama, who occupies number one position on the ballot paper for the party’s presidential primary, has massive support from all constituencies visited amid rousing welcome.
Former President Mahama would be contesting the slot with Mr. Kojo Bonsu, former Chief Executive Officer of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, and Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, a former Minister of Finance and Governor of the Bank of Ghana, who occupy the second and third positions on the ballot paper respectively.
On the campaign trail were Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, a former running mate in the 2020 presidential elections, Prof Joshua Alabi, convener of former President Mahama’s campaign, Mr. Julius Debrah, former Chief of Staff and some former NDC appointees, Members of Parliament, regional, constituency, and branch executives of the party.
Mr Mahama started the tour by visiting seven constituencies including the Awutu Senya East Constituency, Awutu Senya West, Gomoa East, Effutu, Gomoa Central, Agona East, and Agona West on Tuesday.
For the second day, he visited Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa, Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam, Ekumfi, Gomoa West, Mfantseman, Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese, Cape Coast South and North, Twifo Hemang Lower Denkyira and Twifo Atti-Mokwa constituencies.
He said the country’s economic woes could not be blamed or attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and Russian-Ukraine war, but rather on poor governance and reckless borrowing.
He recounted how the government’s attention was drawn to the increasing rate of borrowing by the minority in parliament in every budget they brought to Parliament in 2018, but were ignored.
“Even the World Bank told them that you are risking going into debt distress because of too much borrowing, and they refused to listen. Today, exactly what they were warned against is what has happened, so why are they running from taking responsibility for the mess created?”.
He, therefore, urged the government to stop the blame game and be bold to tell Ghanaians that it had mismanaged the economy, saying “victory in the 2024 general election is already staring the NDC in the face.”
Assuring Ghanaians of better years ahead, he asked the youth to rise, and with collective and patriotic energies rescue the nation from decay, saying democracy, transparency, and accountability were bedfellows.
He said the NDC has done it before; bringing tangible socio-economic infrastructure to communities and ensuring the economy worked for all and not just a privileged few.
GNA