In a heated debate that underscored the deep divide between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sammy Gyamfi Esq., the National Communications Officer of the NDC accused the ruling government of gross mismanagement of the country’s economy.
The National Communications Officer of the opposition party began by raising concerns over severe economic hardships currently being experienced by Ghanaians, which he attributed primarily to what he described as the “recklessness and mismanagement” of the economic management team chaired by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
“We are saying that the economic quagmire that we were plunged into in 2020 and the ramifications of which we are still experiencing which has occasioned the suffering and hardships we are going through is largely as a result of the recklessness and mismanagement of the Dr Bawumia-chaired economic mismanagement team”
Sammy Gyamfi Esq. National Communications Officer of NDC
He further challenged what he described as the ruling government’s narrative, which pinned the blame for the economic downturn on the pandemic and global geopolitical tensions.
To bolster his argument, Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi cited a lecture delivered by Dr. Bawumia himself at the National Tescon Conference on April 7, 2022.
Referring to page 27 of the said lecture, Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi pointed out that Dr. Bawumia had acknowledged a budget deficit of 15% in 2020, which was one of the highest in Africa, contrary to Dr. Frank Bannor, a member of the ruling party’s earlier assertion of an 11.7% deficit.
“Even Bawumia is quoting 15%. So why has he now moved from that and is attempting to downplay the severity of the situation?”, Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi questioned, adding that the Vice President’s own statements disprove the NPP’s attempts to shift blame to external factors.
Comparison of Ghana’s Economic Indicators with Other African Countries
The NDC National Communications Officer, Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi also took issue with Dr. Bannor’s comparison of Ghana’s economic situation with other African countries, particularly francophone nations.
He accused Dr. Bannor of being selective and inconsistent in his comparisons, highlighting that Dr. Bawumia himself had previously compared Ghana’s inflation rate and budget deficit with those of countries like Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria.
“Are you a better economist than Bawumia? This is page 27 of Dr. Bawumia’s economic lecture where he compared Ghana to 4 African countries in terms of the budget deficit, page 27 of his lecture, and the African countries include Cote d’voire. Let me take you to page 12 on inflation. What we are discussing today. In fact on page 14, Dr. Bawumia compares the inflation rate in selected African countries; He does a comparison and analysis;
“He compares that to the USA, UK, Nigeria, Code d’voire, and Ghana. That is the table. What is the meaning of this? Who introduced Code d’voire and Francophone countries as comparators in Ghana’s political discourse? Is it not President Akufo-Addo and Dr Bawumia? And today you are coming to sit here propounding a strange economic theory that we can’t compare Ghana to other African countries”.
Sammy Gyamfi Esq. National Communications Officer of NDC
Additionally, Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi went on to refute Dr. Bannor’s claim that external shocks did not impact Ghana’s economy in 2015 and 2016, reminding him that the prices of key export commodities like gold, cocoa, and oil had significantly declined during that period, contributing to economic challenges.
“You can’t say that exogenous factors did not affect our economy during that period,” he argued, emphasizing that Dr. Bannor’s statements were contradictory.
In a detailed breakdown of fiscal policies, Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi criticized Dr. Bannor’s understanding of the laws governing the financing of the central government by the Bank of Ghana.
He explained that the Bank of Ghana Act and the Fiscal Responsibility Act are distinct and that any revisions to the threshold for central bank financing require a tripartite meeting and parliamentary notification, a nuance that Gyamfi accused Dr. Bannor of missing.
“We have discussed it this year. It is mostly the Governor, Finance Minister, and controller, they meet to revise the threshold of 5% of the total revenue of the previous fiscal year and they inform parliament. That is section 30 I believe subsection 6 of the Bank of Ghana Act. So when you are sitting here citing Germany, giving its government a special risk of fiscal responsibility. You have deviated. You don’t even understand what you’re talking about”.
Sammy Gyamfi Esq. National Communications Officer of NDC
He stressed that the 15% budget deficit recorded by the government in 2020 was one of the highest in Africa, which clearly shows that the problem was recklessness and mismanagement, not the global factors as claimed by members of the ruling party including Dr Frank Bannor.
“The bottom line here is that this government was reckless in its expenditure in 2020”, Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi concluded.
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