From Busia to Akufo-Addo: Dr. Tony Aidoo outlines a history of incompetence and mismanagement whenever the NPP is in power
A prominent member of the National Democratic Congress, Dr. Tony Aidoo, has stated that throughout Ghana’s governance history, governments led by the New Patriotic Party have consistently shown incompetence in managing the country’s economy.
He noted that all NPP governments have a tendency to lead the country into economic turmoil with significant debt burdens.
Dr. Aidoo pointed out a recurring pattern in NPP-led governments, which involves excessive borrowing, reckless spending, bankruptcy declarations, and subsequent requests for debt relief.
“If you observe, there is a discernible pattern that has characterized successive governments managed by the Dankwa-Busia political orientation. It starts with Busia, went through Kufuor, and has ended up with Akufo-Addo. That pattern is to borrow as much as you can, squander the money you have borrowed, declare bankruptcy, and when you get accepted as a bankrupt, you sue for debt relief.
“Busia did that between 1969 and 1972, and it was the basis of his quarrel with his Finance Minister, J.H. Mensah. Kufuor did that with a declaration of HIPC from 2003 to 2008, and the advantages gained by HIPC were misused. The question we used to answer was ‘Where is the money?’. Akufo-Addo has done even worse,” he said.
Reflecting on former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s administration, Dr. Aidoo emphasized that despite receiving substantial debt relief through the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, the country’s foreign debt escalated significantly by the end of Kufuor’s term.
“People have given undeserved accolade to Kufuor’s management of the economy. We do know that the benefits of HIPC were not only in the debt relief, which amounted to well over $8 billion, but also in the debt cancellation which the regime achieved or was given to the regime between the period 2006 to 2007.
“And yet by the time Kufuor was leaving office, our foreign debt had climbed up to its previous level again. The debt cancellation was 66% of our debt, which stood at $6.3 billion in 2000. Sixty-six percent brought our foreign debt to about $2 billion. By the time Kufuor was leaving, that debt had climbed up to $8 billion again,” he said.
He added that the benefit of the HIPC included the funding of all the social intervention policies ruled by Kufuor, but still, the country was highly indebted before Kufuor left.
Watch his remark in the interview below:
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
