The Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central and Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Honorable Isaac Adongo has launched a scathing critique against the government, accusing it of misreporting employment and economic figures to mislead Ghanaians.
In his recent remarks, Hon. Adongo expressed deep concern over what he describes as a systematic manipulation of data to present a falsely positive image of the economy, especially concerning employment creation and infrastructure development.
According to Hon. Adongo, the government’s figures on job creation and economic performance do not align with reality or with data from independent and reputable institutions such as the World Bank.
“When I listen to this government and its spokespersons, I find it difficult to understand whether they are in this country or they are speaking about another country. Because they’ve messed up this country. Everybody is aware of that. People are struggling. Data from reputable independent bodies speak differently from the data that the government cooks in their offices”.
Honourable Isaac Adongo, MP Bolgantanga Central and Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament
The National Democratic Congress lawmaker further pointed out a glaring inconsistency in the government’s employment figures.
Citing a World Bank report, Hon. Adongo noted that unemployment in Ghana had risen from 8.6% in 2016 to 14.7% in 2023, contradicting the government’s claims of significant job creation.
The Bolagatanga Central legislator also challenged the government’s assertions of having created over two million jobs in the public sector.
He highlighted discrepancies between the government’s claims and figures from the Audit Service, which put the number of government workers at approximately 760,000, questioning the existence of the supposed additional 1.4 million jobs.
” Those that are not on government payroll, you can count them at your fingertips; Ghana Standard Authority. How many people are there? Exim Bank, how many people are there? Free zones board, how many people are there?
“Those agencies that are using internal generated funds to pay its workers, even those entities I’ve mentioned it is require that they should be put on the payroll. Our laws, our public financial management laws are very clear. You cannot use public funds to pay for compensation unless you have clearance from the government through the minister of finance”.
Honourable Isaac Adongo, MP Bolgantanga Central and Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament
He emphasized that the government’s inability to substantiate these figures with verifiable data points to the possibility of “ghost workers” being included in the count.
Government’s Handling of Infrastructure Projects
Furthermore, the Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Honorable Isaac Adongo criticized the government’s handling of infrastructure projects, particularly road construction.
He accused the government of inflating the extent of road development by repeatedly counting the same roads that have been reshaped multiple times.
“In this country, we measure roads from one town to the other. They came and now they are talking 12,000 kilometres, meanwhile, when they come to your constituency they come to commission street light and traffic lights.
“In 2020, the president came to my constituency and commissioned a traffic light. It is to tell you that if he had roads constructed in Bolgatanga he would rather go and commission those ones. Because he has nothing to show in Bolga, he came there and commissioned a traffic light at the junction leading to the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital”.
Honourable Isaac Adongo, MP Bolgantanga Central and Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament
The Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central did not spare the government’s record on fuel pricing and electricity tariffs either.
He expressed frustration over the rising cost of living, noting that the price of fuel has skyrocketed under the current administration.
“Under Professor Mills and Mahama’s era, you were buying fuel for less than GHS 4 per litre; you were spending less than GHS 16 per gallon. Today, the price that we are paying for a gallon is the price we are paying for a litre”.
Honourable Isaac Adongo, MP Bolgantanga Central and Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament
He also condemned the government’s approach to electricity pricing, accusing it of continuously hiking electricity bills while reporting an average increase of only 11%.
According to Hon. Adongo, electricity bills have risen by nearly 70% over the past two years, a far cry from the government’s reported figures.
“You see, this is the type of cooking of data,” Hon. Adongo said, arguing that the government’s manipulation of data is not only deceptive but also detrimental to the well-being of Ghanaians.
In conclusion, Hon. Isaac Adongo called on Ghanaians to scrutinize the government’s claims critically and rely on data from independent sources.
He warned that the government’s tendency to misreport figures would eventually catch up with them, as “lies and cooking figures are like pregnancy. You cannot hide it forever. The day will come when you will deliver.”
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