The Minority in parliament has raised concerns about the current economic challenges the country is faced with. At a press briefing on the “current state of insecurity in Ghana in the wake of economic meltdown under Nana Akufo Addo’s presidency” the Minority said it is alarmed by the unprecedented economic meltdown the country is currently faced with and its implication for our national security.
In an address delivered by the Ranking Member on Defence and Interior Committee, James Agalga, they indicated that official data sources indicates that Ghana’s annual inflation rate accelerated for the 17th straight month to 37.2% in October 2022. However, the reality on the ground is that in some specific cases inflation is well above 50%. These figures represent the highest inflation rate the country has seen in several decades.
“Even more alarming is the country’s Debt-to-GDP ratio. The World Bank in its Africa Pulse report released in October, 2022 projected that Ghana will end 2022 with a Debt-to GDP ratio of 104%. The Ghana Cedi on the other hand has now been adjudged by Bloomberg as the worst performing currency in the World, overtaking bankrupt Sri Lanka’s rupee having slumped by more than 45%. Currently one needs almost GH₵14.00 to purchase 1USD”.
The Minority noted that the increase job losses spike in transport fares and general hardship suffered by Ghanaians without doubt portends grave danger for our country’s security. They warned that “if care is not taken, Ghana, our beloved country will soon be heading in the direction of Sri Lanka, a South East Asian country which went bankrupt in recent memory due to economic mismanagement which eventually resulted in mass protests and demonstrations and the eventual collapse of that country’s government”.
The Minority thus, reiterated the call for the sacking of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta without further delay to allow for new thinking to be brought to bear on the ongoing negotiations with the IMF. “Such a step will make it unnecessary for the minority to proceed with its much anticipated motion to censure, Mr. Ken Ofori Atta, the Minister for Finance”.
Ghanamps.com
In pursuit of this, the President of the Panamanian senate, Dr. Christians Aldames Navarro has paid a courtesy call on the First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei Owusu who stood in for the Speaker Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, on Friday, November 4, 2022.
First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei Owusu said beyond the official engagement, the Accra- Panama City alliance must be brought to the door step of the citizens.
A visit to the area revealed that very little has happened.
Residents say the road became so bad at a point especially during the rainy season that it took the intervention of the Member of Parliament to improve those seriously affected portions to make them motorable again.
They submit this to parliament but when they fail to recover, and then they change the recovery plan and come up with new structure meanwhile expenditures keep going on within the cash they receive.
According to him the cost of poor sanitation cannot be over estimate, for this reason they do not play games with the need to access toilet.
“And if we happen to fall sick or get into pandemic regime just as we had with COVID -19 you know the cost that government had to incur, so as a result of this what we are doing is to bear the additional cost and government is taking up the additional cost of materials so the subsidy contribution is absorbing the extra cost and the cost to the beneficiary remains the same”, he said in an interview with Ghanamps.com
According to the GAMA Coordinator, when it comes to sanitation, the Ministry and the Minister have resolved “we should not increase the burden to the beneficiaries, they are paying that to the toilet builders and they are not having problem at all”.
