John Mahama Can’t Lecture Me On Economic Management, He Was Abysmal And Disastrous - Akufo Addo

President, Akufo Addo has described Mr John Dramani Mahama’s time in the office as an unmitigated disaster, adding that his economic track record, from the 2013 to 2016 was abysmal. President Akufo Addo said this on Friday, 10th September 2021, in response to a question posed by a journalist at Vovradio, in which referenced a

statement made by John Mahama accusing the current government of economic mismanagement. President is on a tour of the Volta Region, after visiting Oti Region. Responding to the statement, the President stated that I wonder whether this statement was was made tongue in cheek by the former president and when you look at

record that this political leader, who can also accuse my government of mismanagement, there are a few facts that when you put on table to compare his performance and mine, it would tell you whether what I am offering the people is economic mismanagement. He continued, I wonder what should we describe his stewardship of

Ghana. It is an unmitigated disaster, that’s what I would call him. According to Akufo Addo, under the tenure of office of Mahama, the economic growth rate in 2016 stood at 3.4%, the lowest in two decades; with other macroeconomic indicators also pointing in the wrong direction. Inflation, when he also left office, was 15.4%;

today, at end of July, which are the last hard facts from the Statistical Service, it’s 9%. Interest rates are always a good determinant of how the economy is operating, 32% in December 2016, today, it is 20.6%. We are talking about treasury bill decline in interest rate, we are talking about the trade deficit that was $1.8 billion in 2016, to a

trade surplus of $2.6 billion at the end of the 2019, the President said. He stressed that if these statistics, which, prior to COVID-19, led to Ghana being one of the fastest-growing economies in the world with a GDP of 7%, can be considered economic mismanagement”, he then wondered what would be the description of the

economy managed by John Mahama, which also took Ghana into the embrace of the IMF. Responding again to comments made by Mahama, asking the government to organise an economic forum, Akufo Addo stated that if the economic forum is going to be a repetition of the so called Senchi Consensus, then I think I have to spare

the people of Ghana this very sort of development. He continued, the Senchi Consensus was an unmitigated disaster, out of it we went into the embrace of the IMF with all the difficulties that came from there and the disarray it pointed to in the economy of our country. The President, thus, urged former John Mahama to be wary

commenting on matters with economic management. He is not on strong ground when he is talking about the economy. His track record, I am reluctant to use these strong words, but in normal parlance, I would say it is abysmal and, therefore, he has no lessons to give me at all in the management of the economy, President Akufo Addo added.