It's easier to give economic lectures than to manage economy - Mahama

"Where are the factories? Where are the dams? Where are the warehouses? Where is the one million dollars per constituency?" These are the questions that former President John Dramani Mahama is asking the Akufo-Addo government.

Addressing delegates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Tatale constituency, ahead of the party’s flagbearership race, Mr Mahama said he has yet to see a single factory from the One-District-One-Factory NPP manifesto promise.

It would be recalled that earlier this year, the Vice-President, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia reiterated the government's resolve to construct 570 dams under the One-Village-One-Dam policy initiative.

The construction of the dams will begin this year, 2018, according to the Vice-President.

Ahead of the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections, the then main opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made a promise to construct dams in every village in the three Northern Regions as a way of supporting farming in these communities all year round.

Speaking at the annual “Paarigbielle” festival of the chiefs and people of the Tumu Traditional Area in the Upper West Region, on Saturday, 17 March 2018, Dr Bawumia said: “Along with the Government policy of Planting for Food and Jobs we have also initiated the policy of One Village One Dam and I am glad to note that this policy is taking off this year, and for the three Northern regions this year, we expect the construction of a total of 570 dams."

But Mr Mahama, who has been crisscrossing constituencies and districts of the Northern Region for three days as part of his five-day tour of the region to interact with NDC delegates, caustically said the lesson in the unfulfilled promises is that it is easier for promises to be made but not kept.

“It is easier to give political lectures on the economy than to manage the economy,” he said.

The former President further added that “any Economics Lecturer can give lectures on the economy. But not every lecturer can manage the economy."