2019 Budget: Brace up for more hardship – Mahama

Former President John Dramani Mahama has said there is no hope in the 2019 budget which was read by Finance Minister Mr Ken Ofori-Atta to parliament on Thursday, 15 November 2018, and has, therefore, urged Ghanaians to brace up for more hardship in 2019.

He noted that a budget statement should seek to inspire hope, but the 2019 budget, in the former president’s view, is not “inspiring”.

It will rather make life harder for Ghanaians, he said.

Mr Mahama observed that the hardship that Ghanaians are going through is contrary to the promises made by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and then-presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo prior to the 2016 general elections.

The former president made the remarks when he addressed delegates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Kwadaso Constituency to end the first part of his four-day campaign tour of the Ashanti Region.

Mr Mahama said the NPP in opposition accused his government of borrowing GHS40 billion in four years even though there was massive infrastructure development in terms of roads, hospitals, schools, water and electricity projects to show for it.

He revealed that barely two years in office, the Akufo-Addo government has also borrowed GHS40 billion with no projects to show for it.

“There is no hope in the budget, from what we heard yesterday, brace yourselves for more difficulties in 2019. Ghana is in a sorry state, we’re on a land full of wealth but its citizens are hungry. Today, Ghanaians are worse off than they were under the NDC government,” he stated.

Mr Mahama urged the NPP government to be bold enough to inaugurate all the projects that started under his regime including the Kotoka International Airport Terminal 3, even though they accused his administration of photoshopping those projects, when in opposition.

He entreated the delegates of the NDC to give him a massive endorsement in the flag bearer race to enable him to lead the party into the 2020 general elections to recapture power from the NPP.