Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, Ranking Member on Parliament's Finance Committee, has indicated the president's posture during his address on Sunday, October 30, was that of a man who was very angry.
According to him, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo clearly indicated that he was not ready to solve the economic challenges that the country is
Dr. Ato Forson noted in an interview on Joy News which was monitored by GhanaWeb, that the president did a poor job of asking Ghanaians to rally behind him during these difficult times.
The Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam MP is of the view that the address of the president was long overdue.
"Unfortunately, the president waited too long to address the nation, and even when he decided to address the nation, his posturing alone wasn't good enough. Watching the president, I saw someone who was angry, but I did not see someone who was ready to solve a problem. The body language is everything, so I was more interested in his body language, and I saw an angry man.
"Your people are in crisis; their livelihood is at stake. People are struggling to have three square meals a day; they're looking up to you as the president. You don't come threatening them because some of them are rumour mongering.
"You come obviously by talking to them in a way that they can buy your message. I think whoever wrote that speech if it's himself, did a very poor job, if it's another person, whoever did that job must go because actually, the people of Ghana were waiting for that masterstroke, but it did not come out as such," Dr. Ato Forson stated while commenting on the address.
To him, the president's address should have announced some immediate actions being taken to curb the fiscal issues, including some alleviation plans to help support the most vulnerable in society.
The MP noted such a statement of hope would have earned the support of Ghanaians instead of their ire and ridicule.
"Let me tell you something...if the president had come and had announced to the people of Ghana to say 'yes, because of the crisis A, B, C and D, I'm relieving 40 of my ministers or 30 of my ministers' it's a big signal. It tells the people of Ghana that this man means business.
"It calms the nerves of everyone. Quantify it and say that I'm making savings of ABCD and I'm going to put these savings into, say LEAP to support the elderly. The people of Ghana want to see things like this," Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson observed.
