‘It was a mess’ – Former legal advisor to Kufuor passes damning verdict on Akufo-Addo’s government

When asked on JoyNews to rate the former government, Vickie Bright expressed her disappointment, bitterly stating that, in her view, there were numerous issues within the administration, describing it as ‘a mess’.

According to her, the former government enjoyed significant goodwill from the people but disappointed Ghanaians with most of their decisions.

Vickie Bright shared the view that, for a small country like Ghana, there was no need for an excessive number of ministers running the country.

“What I’ll say, though, is that it all started with such hope. Ghanaians had such big expectations; there was such goodwill following the former president. I remember when he was elected, the Makola women reduced the prices of goods before he could even do anything because they were just so excited; they thought, hey, they’re going to show us how this is done.

“But unfortunately, by the end of it, everything had fallen down like a lead balloon. It’s sad; that’s not what we expected. We had an over-bloated government. We are a small country of 32 million people, we had no business having 100 plus ministers,” she indicated.

Bright continued expressing her surprise over the wanton wastage of money by many African leaders and their display of opulence when travelling to Western countries to seek aid.

She pointed out that these funds could have been better utilised to address more pressing issues burdening the economy.

“And one thing I could just never get my head around, and this doesn’t just apply to him [Akufo-Addo], but also to some other African leaders, you take a private jet, fuel it with so much money and go cup in hand to a country and sit in front of someone asking for money when that person has just taken a public train to work. I mean, there’s something seriously wrong.

“Buying all these V8s, and these are all depreciating assets. Why are we buying V8s in the first place? I don’t understand why we need to have these cars. We can’t afford them. Have you seen the cars that British ministers drive?” she quizzed.

Bright shared that the hardships experienced in the country contributed to the party’s defeat in the 2024 elections, citing that people were clearly upset.

She highlighted the haircuts on pensioners’ investments, which led to protests against the government and ultimately fueled their decision to vote the government out of office.

“What is it about us that makes us want things that we really can’t afford when there are more pressing things that we should be spending our money on? I felt that things could have gone a lot better under the previous administration, and I find it very sad and unfortunate the way things ended,” she stated

“And I mean, look, it’s not me, it’s Ghanaians. Look at the election results. Nobody had won by such a huge margin, so people clearly felt incensed. They just were indignant; they were upset.

“There was a lot of hardship. Pensioners picketing, sitting in the sun, and some needing money for their medication. It was a mess,” she concluded.