Franklin Cudjoe, President of IMANI Africa, has highlighted that there are capable leaders on the continent, citing Kenya as an example.
He noted that the Kenyan government has achieved notable economic indicators, including a modest inflation rate of 4.6%, reasonable lending rates averaging 18%, and a debt servicing burden that accounts for only a third of the country’s GDP.
Franklin Cudjoe lamented that ineffective leaders, such as those in Ghana, often shift blame by claiming they lack authority or have outdated resources, meanwhile, they overwhelm citizens with a plethora of taxes and levies, exacerbating the country’s woes.
“Ghana? Inflation hovered between 54% in 2023 to 25% about now. Lending rates averaged 35%. The government borrowed us into a debt iceberg whose treatment thawed our savings in wicked and ugly financial haircuts we were promised wouldn’t happen”.
“Yes, Ruto [President of Kenya] promised to do better in reducing taxes but did the opposite. Ruto was even flying expensive private jets even though Kenya Airways had many fleets doing so well, recording $70m profits in 2021. Now Ruto is listening to his people, and he is acting faster, sadly after needless deaths of young activists asking for a fair economy”.
Franklin Cudjoe
He pointed out that, unlike Kenya, Ghanaians had pleaded with President Nana Addo to significantly downsize his bloated government, with Osagyefo Oliver Barker-Vormawor and the Fix the Country movement being vocal advocates for this cause, but their efforts were disregarded by the President.
Franklin Cudjoe highlighted that, in a striking example of extravagance, President Nana Addo’s government, with the approval of the Economic Management Team, doubled the allocation to the Office of Government Machinery from approximately GHS 1 billion to GHS 3 billion in his first year alone.
He noted that “that amount kept increasing thereafter”.
“We begged his government to truly move us from taxation to production- yet he gave us the middle finger and added more pernicious taxes”. – Franklin Cudjoe
Economic Mismanagement: Government Accused Of Reckless Spending
Moreover, Franklin Cudjoe leveled a scathing indictment against the government, accusing it of driving the country to the brink of financial collapse and bankruptcy through its gross mismanagement of the economy.
He pointed out that the government has resorted to effectively robbing citizens of their hard-earned, dwindling savings, ravaged by inflation, which at one point reached a staggering 54%, leaving people’s financial resources severely depleted.
“Eventually, Nana packed us into an ambulance where many gasped for air all the way to the ER of the IMF. This was after the comical rendition of ‘We will not go to the IMF. We are a proud people’ looked haplessly belligerent. Even after being saved by the IMF with an additional GH₵ 33bn in almost free money, the government splurged and spread the money like an Arabian prince”.
“And yet the government hoped that like magical money doublers, more money was coming its way. Highway graft and outright theft of resources through skullduggery procurement scams especially with that useless Ministry for Special Initiatives ( that for instance built GH₵ 15000 dugouts and billed us GHS 230,000 for each) KelniGVG,$176m and the EC’s waste of nearly $150M on biometric voter equipment”.
Franklin Cudjoe
Franklin Cudjoe observed that the cumulative effect of these factors has led to an additional million citizens plummeting into multidimensional poverty, exacerbating the country’s already dire economic situation.
Franklin Cudjoe acknowledged that the new Finance Minister, Mohammed Amin Adam, has made a promising start in addressing the economic mess inherited from his predecessor.
However, he noted that Amin Adam must remain steadfast in resisting pressure from political party leaders to indulge in profligate spending and instead maintain a prudent and disciplined approach to fiscal management.
“I think we all need to monitor Parliament henceforth from passing silly bills and legislation like the cement one”. – Franklin Cudjoe
Franklin Cudjoe also cautioned that Parliament must be held accountable for approving vague and extravagant tax exemptions that benefit politically connected individuals and businesses.
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