General News of Saturday, 19 March 2022
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2022-03-19Akufo-Addo cannot be blamed entirely for current economic challenges – Okyem Aboagye
Former Member of Parliament for the Bantama Constituency
We are dealing with legacy issues, Former government spokesperson on finance
COVID-19 has an impact on current state of the country’s economic crisis, Okyem Aboagye
E-Levy should be considered, Okyem Boakye
A former Member of Parliament for the Bantama Constituency, Daniel Okyem Aboagye, has indicated that the Akufo-Addo
Read full articleled government cannot be held entirely responsible for the current hardship in the country.
According to him, the Akufo-Addo government had put in place strong measures to address the challenges it inherited from the erstwhile John Dramani Mahama administration.
Speaking on ‘The Big Issue’ on Saturday, he indicated that the current economic challenges in the country cannot be blamed on poor management by the Akufo-Addo administration
“We are dealing with legacy issues,” he said.
“We had to pay and manage the financial crisis. We had to deal with the take or pay energy deals. Pensions were not being paid, and we had to pay. If we didn’t have to pay about GH¢21.6 billion to resolve the financial crisis which was so necessary to 4.6 million Ghanaians, that money alone could have supported Free SHS for five years… If we didn’t have to do that, we would have done so much,” Citinewroom quoted Mr Okyem Aboagye.
He further stated that COVID-19 has an impact in the current state of the country’s economy, adding that as a developing country, Ghana can’t compare itself to the western countries.
“Anybody who comes to say that COVID-19 has no impact on what we are facing is basically being economical with the truth. The background of where we started from is bad. We are a developing country, we are fragile, so we can’t compare ourselves to the western countries,” he said.
He however endorsed the approval of the E-Levy noting that it is a better solution than going to IMF.
“To prove to the world that we are capable of managing our affairs is to look internally before we consider going to the IMF,” he said, stressing the importance of the E-Levy.
