Don’t Blame Covid-19; It’s Your Mismanagement - Ato Forson To Government

Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr Ato Forson has accused the Akufo Addo government of mismanaging the country’s resources. He said the country’s economic hardship should not be blamed on Covid-19 pandemic but the mismanagement of the the current administration. Backing his statement with the statistics on the country’s public debt, Mr Ato Cassiel

Forson stated that the public debt increased from 56% to 76% of the Gross Domestic Product GDP during the President Akufo-Addo’s first term in office. Again, he hinted that in the year 2020, an amount of 55.34% of the country’s tax revenue was also used for the purposes of paying interest on borrowed money, which he said, was 46.22% in 2019 before Covid-19. Mr Speaker, how can

anybody just turn around and come and blame Covid. The problem is not Covid, but mismanagement that is what the problem is. It is your mismanagement that has created the mess and you can never blame Covid. His comment then comes on the back of the 2021 budget statement presented before the House by the caretaker Finance Minister, Hon Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu. In his

presentation, he announced government’s decision to introduce the new levies to help restore the economy following the impact of the Covid-19 on the economy. Deliberating on the 2021 Budget statement in the house Parliament the Tuesday, March 16,  the Ajumako Enyan Esiam MP indicated that, the new levies proposed by Akufo-Addo is a clear way to lure the general public into paying the overwhelming debt. Mr Speaker today we are

confronted with a situation of government saddling us with public debt. Public debt to the extent that we have to pay with the option that Ghanaians must pay in the form of taxes. Forson further said the taxes proposed by the government are too harsh and is likely to impose hardship on Ghanaians. Today they have introduced taxes all of us are worried about, ordinary Ghanaian is complaining because the taxes are so harsh, he stated emphatically.