Former President John Mahama has called on the Akufo-Addo government to open up and admit their shortcomings in the management of the economy and call for help.
It comes on the back of the consistent fall in the Cedi against major trading currencies. the The cedi has hit a record low of 5.6 to a dollar.
Below is Mahama’s full write up;
There is a much hackneyed saying, “two heads are better than one”.
There are times when a leader or a party must admit that they do not have all the answers to the challenges facing the economy or a particular sector. At such times, it does not take away from your dignity, but adds to your credibility, when you create a consultative process that forges a consensus and allows a nation to move forward.
I faced one such decision point as President in 2014. The 3-day Senchi Economic Forum was held in May 2014.
It was a broad consultative process and even though it was boycotted by the opposition NPP, it achieved its objective of producing the famous Senchi Report which contributed to the Homegrown Fiscal Consolidation Programme.
This Homegrown Fiscal Programme led eventually to the ECF with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and resulted in one of the most stable periods in Ghana’s economic history in 2016, with the cedi being one of the best performing African currencies.
This administration is probably at such a decision point. The recent free fall of the cedi against all major foreign currencies, may be exposing a deeper malaise in the “fundamentals of the economy”.
It may serve Akufo-Addo/Bawumia and their economic team well to own up to their shortcomings and call a Senchi type stakeholder forum on the economy.
By: Joseph Nii Ankrah
