The 2020 presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama has challenged the government over claims that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has contributed to the hardships in the country.
The President, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and his Vice, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia have on different occasions apportioned blame on the conflict, insisting that its impact together with the Covid-19 pandemic are responsible for the difficult state of affairs.
Addressing the nation on Monday, May 2, 2022, former President John Dramani Mahama insisted that those claims are inaccurate.
According to him, Ghanaians were subjected to hardships and suffering by the ruling government even before Russia decided to attack Ukraine.
“The Russian-Ukrainian conflict cannot possibly be responsible for the suffering Ghanaians are going through. The suffering predates the war. Before this conflict, our currency had been depreciating and was impacting negatively on fuel and commodity prices in our markets.
“Fuel prices had gone up on more than forty different occasions since 2017 before the Russian-Ukrainian conflict started,” John Dramani Mahama said.
In his speech, the former President accused Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia of failing to lead his Economic Management Team to help the government manage the economy properly.
Dragging Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta into the conversation, the leading member of the opposition NDC said he should lose his position in government.
“Those directly responsible for the economic crisis must bear responsibility and it is inconceivable that the Minister of Finance [Ken Ofori-Atta] remains at post, having presided over the worst economic meltdown in Ghana’s recent history. The President must, without further delay, relieve the finance minister of his position and appoint someone who is focused on national rather than self-interest and who has the requisite skill, experience, and knowledge of public financial management in his stead.
“The personal benefit that the current minister and his cronies derives from borrowing on our behalf through the commissions taken by his companies who serve as transaction advisers raises an unacceptable conflict of interest situation which must end immediately,” Mahama said.
