Ghana is experiencing a 'hunger pandemic' – Kojo Nsafoah Poku

Nsafoah Poku says current hardship can kill more people than COVID-19

Ghanaians choosing between walking to work and eating - Nsafoah Poku

Akufo-Addo said he knew how to bring the economy back to life - Nsafoah Poku

The Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Policies and Research, Kojo Nsafoah Poku, has said that Ghana is currently experiencing

Read full articlea 'hunger pandemic'.

According to him, because of the current economic conditions, a lot of Ghanaians are being forced to go to bed on empty stomachs.

Nsafoah Poku, who made these remarks in a Neat FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, said that the current hardship Ghanaians face is a pandemic that can even kill more people than the COVID-19 virus.

"Our father Nana Addo came to tell us that he knows how to bring an economy back to life, but he does not know how to bring people back to life. What we are facing now in 2022 is a pandemic. We are in a crisis even though it is not COVID-19 but a hunger pandemic. People are hungry in this country.

"If you look at salaries received by people during January, today that same salary will not be enough for that person. Let me give you an example, milk that was bought for GH¢11 is now sold at GH¢21, so a parent whose income has not changed will not have the money to buy the milk for his family," he said in Twi.

"Not only that, now the prices of petrol has increased, utility tariffs are also going to be increased, and so the price of everything is going up, and because Ghanaians are receiving the same income, it has gotten to a point where they will have to choose between them or family eating, or they walking to work. So, we are in a pandemic, it is a problem, and we can't continue pretending that these problems do not exist," he added.

The executive director added that should the current situation persist, more Ghanaians will die because of the current hardship compared to the number of people killed by the COVID-19 virus.

Nsafoah Poku made these remarks while reacting to the increase in prices of goods and services and the proposal by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Water Company (GWCL) Limited to increase tariffs by 148 per cent and 334 per cent, respectively.

Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown below: