John Mahama left strong economy for NPP and they recruited 125 ministers and now they can’t …Sampson Tangombu
The NDC Member of Parliament for Navrongo Central Mr. Sampson Tangombu Chiragia has said, it is obvious former President Dramani Mahama left a strong economy to NPP before leaving office because evidence shows, they were able to recruit One Hundred and Twenty Five (125) Ministers immediately took over from John Mahama. Apexnewsgh.com report According to the Navrongo legislator, “Today, the NPP and Dr. Bawumia are claiming the economy is recovering and they cannot even recruit Deputy Regional Minister which was the case in their first administration immediately John Mahama left office. However, Mr. Sampson Tangombu called on the Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to render an apology to Ghanaians because he got it wrong from the beginning by tagging John Dramani Mahama as ‘incompetent’ “I will sincerely task Dr. Bawumia to come and apologize to Ghanaians and let them understand that he got it wrong. Because today, he agrees that our economy is driven by external forces forgetting that we don’t sell dollars or print dollars in Ghana. But he used the dollar as the benchmark against John Mahama by way of calling Mahama {incompetent}” Responding to the Ukraine-Russia war which was captured by Dr. Bawumia’s lecture, the MP said: “Ukraine-Russian is barely 2months and you are using to build as your non-performance of the economy, forgetting that if the price of crude oil goes up, you are also benefiting”. The problem in Ghana today, is the exchange rate which we cannot control and the loan they are paying over 50 billion a year. Mr. Sampson Tangombu stressed Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
Mahama’s administration has never witnessed fuel shortage–Peter Otokunor
The National Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Peter Otokunor has revealed that never under President John Mahama was the country experienced a fuel shortage. Apexnewsgh.com report According to Mr. Otokunor, ” … in the actual fact, when we are leaving office a gallon of fuel was Ghc 14.00 and now a gallon of fuel is about Ghc 52.00. In fact in the remote areas where it is even very difficult to reach, they are even paying more. Some are paying as high as Ghc 60.00 for a gallon of fuel. So, the fact does not lie. He stressed He said: “ Any government worker’s salary in 2016, you will realize that accumulatively they have not gone up for even 15 to 20 percent, at most 20 percent. But look at the prices of all these items on the market. So, if the expenditure is a function of your income and prices on the market, clearly people are going through a difficult time”. “In fact, Ghanaians are magicians. How even those who are taking a salary of Ghc 5000.00 are able to manage under these conditions only God knows. He stressed Ghanaians are magicians. So, you see everyone want to cut corner in their business. Because if you don’t cut the corner you are in trouble” he pointed “Light bill and water bill have gone up, people are paying almost about 60 percent more than they paid under President Mahama. 1KW of energy what you are spending now, in fact, the same house, the same equipment see how much credit you are buying under President Mahama and how much credit you are buying under Akufo-Addo- Bawumia government”. “You are buying 14 kilograms of LPG at Ghc50.00 and some areas Ghc 47.00 and now you are buying it at Ghc 195.00 cedis. Your salary is the same”. He said The NDC Deputy Secretary made the pronouncement during an interview on A1 radio a local radio in the Upper East Regional capital Bolgatanga monitored by apexnewsgh.com. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your adverts and credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
No teacher was unemployed under John Mahama—Peter Otokunor
The National Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Peter Otokunor has said, no qualified teacher was unemployed during NDC Mahama’s administration. Apexnewsgh.com report According to Mr. Otokunor, “If you are a trained teacher, you get a job immediately, if you are a trained nurse, you will get a job immediately, maybe a few of them because we were building those hospitals so that we can absorb those nurses. They were few nurses who were on backlog but what we are experiencing today, we have nurses and teachers who finished school”. Meanwhile, Ironically Mr. Otokunor added: “Well, there was unemployment under president Mahama and we were doing everything…. Talking about the NABCO initiative, the Deputy Secretary said: “Those on NABCO, during the time of President Mahama were not unemployed, most of them were in school. In fact, go and look at those on NABCO most of them are graduates of 2017/18”. The NDC Deputy Secretary made the pronouncement during an interview on A1 radio a local radio in the Upper East Regional capital Bolgatanga monitored by apexnewsgh.com. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your adverts and credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
“We should all be thankful to God Almighty, be thankful to our colleagues–Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu Majority Leader has expressed his appreciation to the Minority Caucus for not being loud and disruptive in parliament during the passage of the e-levy after Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta moved the motion on Tuesday, 29 March 2022. Mr. Bonsu told the media at a press conference following the passage of the 1.5 per cent levy by a certificate of urgency that even though the opposite side later staged a walkout, they did not obstruct the process. “We should all be thankful to God Almighty, be thankful to our colleagues – the NPP Members of Parliament – and, I will say, to the extent that our colleagues NDC MPs were not raucous; they were in attendance and no such infractions came, I think we should also be thankful to them that we had a smooth conduct of business in the house and we are moving the agenda of national development forward”. “No, it was not a surprise because you were here last Friday when the business statement came to be presented and the house was informed that bills may be presented and this e-levy is a bill that was presented”. “And, don’t forget, this bill is not a new bill that is being introduced, it has been with us since December last year”, he pointed. Asked when the bill will be presented to President Nana Akufo-Addo for his approval, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs replied: “As soon as possible; as soon as practicable”. However, Mr. Bonsu denied any quorum issue. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
“When they cook figures, you would do your analysis based on the figures available—Murtala Mohammed
Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed opposition MP for Tamale Central has accused the Akufo-Addo led government of regularly cooking economic data to deceive intellectuals so that their analysis of the economy would be confusing. Speaking on the analysis by a Senior Lecturer on Economics at the University of Ghana, Dr. Agyapoma Gyeke-Dako that the economic data does not support claims that the economy was mismanaged prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Murtala said on Class91.3FM’s breakfast show on Thursday, 24 March 2022: “I agree that the Debt-to-GDP in 2019 was not as it is but you would agree with me that it was growing in an accelerated fashion, so, clearly the signals were very clear”. “If you read the World Bank Country Director’s verdict on this, he said the rate at which it was growing, even without COVID, we would have had this [economic crisis] because of the way the economy was abysmally managed”, Murtala Muhammed argued. “So, clearly it was going to be a factor and I can understand that some of the figures you Dr. Gyeke-Dako deal with, as an intellectual, are based on figures available”, he observed but added: “I can tell you for a fact that a lot of the figures churned out by this government are cooked figures and they were exposed big time in the budget statement which was presented in parliament”. “So, when they cook figures, you would do your analysis based on the figures available”, he insisted. “I’ll give you a classical example: even currently, this government is telling us that the Debt-to-GDP is about 80.1 percent when we know it’s not true”. “We know it’s not true because they haven’t added the GHS9.5 billion debt on ESLA. They haven’t also added the GHS2.4 billion GETfund bond. They haven’t added the GHS750 million Sinohydro debt and many others”, he claimed. “So, what they have strategically done”, in his view, is to use the “cooked figures” to “deceive intellectuals” to do “misleading” analyses of the economy. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
“Adidi-gya” is the Bane of Ghana’s Underdevelopment – Chairman of Christian Council
The Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana and the Moderator of the General Assembly of Presbyterian Church of Ghana, The Rt. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante has observed that Ghana’s problem of Underdevelopment is due to systemic greed popularly known in the local Twi language as “Adidi-gya” or “adige-monge” in the Frafra language, that has dangerously creeped into the social fiber of the country. Apexnewsgh.com report He stated that political greed has become so prevalent and seemingly socially acceptable that society sees nothing wrong when politicians amass wealth overnight. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante said, even though Ghana is 70 percent Christians, the increasing number of corruption and cases of stealing public resources leaves one to wonder whether people still value Christian morals. The theology Professor also chastised pastors who take a lot from their congregants and give them nothing in return. He maintained that due to greed and the desire to get rich quickly, some pastors have turned away from preaching salvation and repentance to prosperity and wealth. He, therefore, admonished Christians to make Christ their example and desist from acts of greed and corruption. He made this known when he delivered a sermon at the Penial Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in the Bolgatanga District of the Upper Presbytery as part of his eight days pastoral visit to the Presbytery and to dedicate a new chapel for the Penial Congregation in Bolgatanga. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +2335555568093
Agriculture minister should stop insulting Ghanaians–Dr. Michael Ayamga Adongo
One of the big disservices many of us did to Ghana was our failure to interrogate the infeasible slogans that were being peddled by this government while in opposition. Today, not only have many of these slogans failed to generate the productivity and economic drive required to grow our economy, they have become a national drain and illegal outlets through which government appointees loot the state. We should not and will not repeat that mistake. One person still living in the world of slogans is the Agriculture Minister. One would have thought that his persistent gaffing, coupled with his performance during his vetting would have alerted him to the need for him to study and understand the sector he is leading but no. This is a Minister who said because of his policies, northerners were now building blockhouses. Not only was this palpable falsehood. It is obvious he didn’t know northern Ghana well before he was made Minister. When farmers were struggling to find seed and fertilizers because of the racketeering in the subsidy system that he failed to notice and tackle, the Minister went about claiming subsided fertilizer was everywhere. Today he claims to have received awards for tackling food security in Ghana. What a shame! Of course, from his high horse, it is not possible for him to see the suffering of the people and the anguish of farmers. It is obvious the Minister failed to understand, maybe deliberate, that there are several dimensions to food security (availability, access and utilization, for want of time). We are in March, and I can tell you for a fact that the food supply situation in Northern Ghana is under extreme stress. In the markets, not only are food prices extremely high, evidence of food shortage is palpable because the Minister failed to manage the buffer stock systems that were put in place by our visionary President Mahama, to mop up excess supply during the harvest season and ensure post-harvest losses were cut to the minimum while stabilizing prices for farmers. While food was going to waste because our storage and processing systems under the buffer stock were deteriorating under this Minister’s watch, he was going around claiming food is everywhere. Mr. Minister, at that time, the time you were taking your victory lap, farmers were crying and committing suicide. On the dimension of food availability, a generous Professor would rate D-. Access to food is a serious problem even for the employed and middle class in Ghana today. While all Ghanaians are increasingly spending a higher proportion of their incomes on food, those living on the periphery have gone into destitution, with many begging for food. The litmus test for improving food access is when people progressively spend less proportion of their income on food. There is no Ghanaian today who has reached this point, except those of you who return home with several “Ghana Must Go” bags of money in your car booths. On food access, you score a terrible F. I will not waste my readers’ time on the third dimension, utilization. So because the experts would tell you, and I am one, that when you struggle with the first two, it is unlikely you would achieve the third. Another F. My final advice is that you check the direction of the cars loaded with food. Maybe use the google earth app on your android phone and it would clearly tell you those food trucks are headed for Ghana. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +2335555568093
We must wind down the hubris, the arrogance, and the show of impunity that the people see–Prof. Kwesi Botchwey
Professor Kwesi Botchwey, a former Finance Minister, has advised the Akufo-Addo government to accept the fact that the economy is in a crisis and tell the people the truth. He said: “Our current travails can be overcome provided we level with the people. The solution to a problem begins with recognizing that there is one. It must start with the recognition that it is a crisis and level with the people. We must wind down the hubris, the arrogance, and the show of impunity that the people see”, The lecture was on the theme: “On the state of the nation’s economy and politics, 65 years after independence, the path to sustainable development and democratic consolidation.” Prof Botchwey said at the 65th Independence Day Lecture held at the Economics Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, on Monday, March 7, 2022. A day after President Nana Akufo-Addo asked Ghanaians for help in getting the economy back on track. According to President Akufo-Addo at Ghana’s 65th Independence Day anniversary, he will not renege on his pledge to help create progressive and prosperous Ghana” but he, however, cannot do it alone. “I need the backing of each and every one of you, if we are to bounce back together and build a Ghana beyond aid”, he pleaded at Cape Coast, Central Region on Sunday, 6 March 2022. The anniversary theme: ‘Working together; bouncing back together’, “imposes a duty on all of us” as far as what it means to be a Ghanaian and loving one’s country, is concerned. Borrowing a leaf from history, the President recounted how “our forebears worked together with the belief that Ghana, once free and independent, could make her own unique contribution to the growth of world civilization and be able to generate wealth and prosperity for the masses of her people”. “They forebears put away ethnic, political and religious affiliations and came together to work for the liberation of the Gold Coast from colonial and imperial domination”, he pointed. “Each one of them”, Mr. Akufo-Addo explained, “contributed their quota toward a free, independent Ghana in which we now live”. “All of us gathered here and millions out there – inside our borders and outside – share this love for the place we call home”, President said. According to him, “When we make wrong choices, we must act to set things right” and “when those put in charge of running affairs get it wrong, we must have the courage to say so”. “That is our patriotic duty and calling. But, we must not, at any given opportunity, run down our nation simply because we can, all to achieve a narrow, political can partisan interest”, President condemned. Ghana’s democratic system of governance, he noted, “acknowledges that we’ll have differences of opinion on the way forward for our nation. We must, however, recognize that the expression of those diverse views should not undermine the fundamental unity we need to forge to advance the cause of our nation”, President added. The Ghanaian leader said despite the harm done to the economy by the COVID-19 pandemic, his government will soldier on to fix things. “Fellow Ghanaians, for the last two years, we’ve seen, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the disruption of the global supply chain, and the global financial system; the opening up of a huge funding gap in virtually all countries, the widening of the fiscal deficit and increased public debt level. Simply put, there are difficulties everywhere in the world. We are seeing increasing global freight rates, rising crude oil prices – which means rising fuel prices; rising cost of items on the market, as a result of inflationary pressures and the depreciation of currencies”. “Inasmuch as these are all happening in all countries around the world, the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has not thrown up its hands in despair. We’re not looking for the easy way out”, he clarified. He said: “We’re determined to become even more self-reliant and, in the process, find Ghanaian solutions to Ghanaian problems, as, already, we have made considerable progress toward this end”. He noted that, for example, Ghana, today, “is a net exporter of foodstuffs thanks to the success of the programme for Planting for Food and Jobs” while pointing out: “Free Senior High School is ensuring money, or the lack of it, is no longer a barrier toward the attainment of a minimum of senior high school education for every Ghanaian child – an important tool for the development of our nation”. “We’re processing more of our cocoa in Ghana than at any other time in our history”, adding: “The ‘One District-One Factory’ initiative, which has seen the ongoing construction of 278 factories cross the country – 106 completed – is part of the foundation, on which we are building a comprehensive industrialization programme by the development of strategic anchor industries and the coordinated exploitation of our bauxite and iron ore resources”. Also, the President noted: “We have opened up this country through the construction of roads, more than any other government has in the history of the fourth republic”. Further, he said: “Our efforts at digitization are improving transparency, accountability and efficiency in the public sector and helping to accelerate the growth of our economy”. “Fellow Ghanaians, these and more are what we have used tax revenues for over the last five years. In all your communities, villages, towns, constituencies and regions, you’re seeing your taxes at work – whether it is the construction of a classroom block, clinic, small-town water facility, factory or road and we will continue down this path”, he stressed. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana
Depreciation of The Cedi: Why We Should Panic
Development Economist Dr. Michael Ayamga Adongo has said, has maintained that when cedi depreciated under President Mills and Mahama, there was more external confidence in the economy than NPP Akufo-Addo’s administration Read the full details below: When the Cedi depreciated under Mills & Mahama, there was external confidence in the economy. We could walk into the capital markets to borrow at competitive rates because Ghana was not rated in the Cs with negative outlook. Investors were willing and investing in the economy. In fact, the depreciation occurred because oil companies and multinationals were demanding dollars to set up their production. Such PRODUCTIVITY-TRIGGERED DEPRECIATION OF THE CEDI WAS GOOD OMEN AS IT USHERED IN THE FIRST DOUBLE DIGIT GROWTH OF THE ECONOMY IN RECENT HISTORY. At that time, government was not broke and seeking to directly withdraw money from people’s wallets. We had not used our natural resources to collateralize loans. We had not exceeded the disaster threshold of 77% debt to GDP ratio. Above all, there was social justice. Young men and women in our Universities had hope. Hope that they had decent chances at landing jobs regardless of his surnames and political connection. Today we have the exact opposite. The Cedi is depreciating because we have depleted our resources and owe so much. The Cedi is depreciating because the outlook of our economy is negative. The depreciation we see with the Cedi today is not caused by the usual cyclical dollar demand by merchants to stock for Christmas or at the end of the financial year when multi-nationals are repatriating profits earned in Cedi. In the last four years, the good management of previous governments made it possible for this government to go to the capital market, borrow and use the dollars to shore up the Cedi and then go about tooting the titles of members of their economic team. The least said about social justice and equity the better. Today young people are made to spend their savings on forms and queue for weeks in search of jobs that have already been distributed by the ruling elite to their families, friends, wives and girlfriends. As my Senior brother Prof. Raymond Atuguba graciously said, “Ghana is broke”. Graciously because we are not just broke. Ghana is broke with a bad reputation so she can’t borrow. There is a reason to worry. There is reason to lose sleep. Thanks to the crack economic team. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
National prosperity will not come overnight–Prez Akufo-Addo to Ghanaians
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appealed to Ghanaians to exercise some amount of patience with his struggling administration. According to him, “just as our fight for freedom and independence was not achieved in a day, so, too, national prosperity will not come overnight.” The President made the appeal at this year’s ‘President’s Independence Day Awards’ held on Tuesday, 2 March 2022, at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC). President Akufo-Addo said: “As we prepare to celebrate 65 years of independence from colonial power with the theme, ‘Working together, bouncing back to get better,’ let us eschew all acts of divisiveness and self-centeredness which will only retire our forward march”. He added, “We must have the pride to acknowledge that we’ve made positive strides and we must also have the humility to appreciate that we still have some way to go. “We must have the patience to accept that just as our fight for freedom and independence was not achieved in a day, so too national prosperity will not come overnight.” He believes, his government is “establishing a solid foundation for the economic take-off of our country in peace and in unity” while expressing optimism that “we will build a new Ghanaian civilization which will attract the admiration of Africa and the world.” Before the 2016 elections, President Nana Akufo-Addo, who is currently in his second administration, promised to make Ghana a better place by way of fixing the country in less than two years especially if Ghanaians give him the mandate. “I am promising you that within 18 months of a new government of the NPP, under my leadership, the face of our country, Ghana, is going to change. We are going to get out of stagnation and backwardness and move our country onto the path of progress and prosperity. We can do it. We, the Ghanaian people, have the capacity to change the circumstances of our lives”, he then promised. “This will be a Ghana with opportunities for all, and where everybody is taken care of. We will have a society that is caring and compassionate and expresses solidarity. Nobody is going to be left behind. We are all going to march together, hands linked together, to that great future that beckons us, here in Ghana”, President Akufo-Addo added. He made these promises as the then flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party in November 2016 during a rally in Northern Region. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093