An Economist and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economic Studies, School of Economics, UCC, Dr. Camara Kwasi Obeng has joined in the debate by casting a gloomy light on the government’s ability to raise its very much coveted $5 billion Eurobond in 2021, due to the prolonged disputes in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.
Speaking in an interview with the Vaultz News, Dr. Camara Obeng intimated that this unfortunate turn of events would go a long way to affect investors’ expectation of returns, should they buy such bonds against the risks of the governments’ inability to repay.
“… they have impact on the fortunes of the country, that, we cannot run away from it. The business man wants a place where he can put his money and reap his returns without apprehension, without any fear.”
He asserted that, these tensions are a general phenomenon across Africa, and for a long time now, investors still make reference to such unsavory histories to inform their decisions on future investments.
“…you remember that, Ghana we have that history where Acheampong said ‘YꜪ de ka kraa yꜪn tua’. That thing is still there, it always goes back to that. When they are seeing some of this kind of developments then they are apprehensive.”
He, however, blamed the current conditions on the inadequacies and inefficiencies of institutions in the country. Recall that in 2009, when Former President Barack Obama visited Ghana, he made a very profound remark regarding Africa’s institutions: “Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.” Yet, after more than a decade, what must be said about our institutions leaves much to be desired.
“…we should always insist on institutions. Once our institutions are efficient, you can always go to sleep. But where there are loopholes in our institutions some of these difficulties are likely to come up.”
He also underscored the fact that the security forces have to be professional in their dealings regarding maintaining peace and calm as this uprising continues. A number of instances could be cited in the just ended elections where a generally peaceful elections degenerated into mayhems and resulted in about 6 people losing their lives and scores of others injured.
“And then again, our security forces have to be professional, they have to work on intelligence. So, are they telling us that they didn’t know that all these things were going to happen? What contingency plans did they put in place to fore stall them that they have to shoot and kill people?” he quizzed.
“We should not invite these security people in our democracy. Because if you continue to do that, a time will come they will think that after all, the people you are governing don’t fear you, they fear the gun. If they fear the gun, then they will have the right to rule. They will overtake all of us, they will surprise us one day… the soldiers are supposed to protect territorial borders of the country, they are not supposed to go and do policing.”
He also mentioned that in as much as the constitution does not bar a section of citizens from staging lawful demonstrations, the police should not use force in denying people from expressing their rights. Recent agitations and demonstrations that are being staged by faithfuls of the National Democratic Congress to register their displeasure on the election results have also been met fiercely by the police with some protesters getting injured in the process on December 17, 2020.
He also indicated that, should the NDC petition the Supreme Court in what they claim as fraud on the part of the EC against them in the just ended elections, the court must not delay proceedings. The Court must make judgment on the issue as fast as possible, he added.
In 2012, the NPP government under the then flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo petitioned the highest court of the land along issues pertaining to unfairness and fraud in the election which lasted for about 8 months.
Again, he asserted that the next four years or more are going to be very tough for the country and so the country must brace itself for such herculean task that awaits us.
He also dispelled the view that the COVID-19 pandemic was the reason for the country’s high debt levels.
“…Everybody knows that Ghana was a high distress country before COVID. That, when we were spending towards the elections we were going to exceed the threshold of 5% and for government to even issue for the central bank financing. Because a lot of the things were shifted to the last minute. ‘The Year of Roads’ was shifted to the last end… COVID has played a part, but we have also been very reckless in our spending.”
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