The Member of Parliament for Tano North, Dr. Gideon Boako, has criticized the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government over its recent admission of the global factors impacting the economy.
Speaking at an event in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, April 7, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, acknowledged the severe consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic on the Ghanaian economy.
“The broader effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war cannot be lost on any country, including Ghana,” said the Tamale Central MP.
This, according to Dr. Boako, is a U-turn from the NDC’s earlier objection to the argument that the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war were responsible for the country’s economic hardships.
In a social media post on Tuesday, April 8, Dr. Boako noted that the Minister’s admission vindicated the NPP and emphasized that they never misled Ghanaians.
“Today, my friend in the NDC, Murtala Mohammed, is claiming that we must blame COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war for Ghana’s economic challenges. Yet, just a few months ago, he and the NDC appeared on national television and dishonestly criticized the NPP administration for citing those very same reasons,” he wrote.
He added, “We did not mislead Ghanaians, nor were we trying to evade responsibility when we explained that our economy was thriving before these two external shocks caused a downturn. However, our opponents chose to ride on cheap propaganda, ignoring the significant and ongoing impacts on the global economy.”
The lawmaker, who is also a financial economist, further claimed that the immediate past NPP government restored the economy to its pre-COVID-19 state before leaving office, citing a growth rate of 5.7%.
“Fortunately for them, the NPP government was able to restore the economy to the pre-COVID-19 era before leaving office. We recorded a growth rate of 5.7%, and in nominal terms, a historic GDP of over a trillion cedis — unprecedented in our history. We await how this government will build on this solid milestone,” he stated.
