<<Print>>

Reports and development across the country indicate that life is becoming increasing unbearable for many Ghanaians, as a result of the inability of the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress government to employ creative ways to tackle the challenges facing the ailing national economy. The worst affected are the most vulnerable in society, including children in Orphan Homes, lepers and the aged, as a result of the decision by the �social democrats� not to release funds meant to finance social intervention programmes, such as the Livelihood Empowerment Agaisnt Poverty. The District Assemblies Common Fund, part of which the assemblies use to support activities of vulnerable people like the blind, is also not being paid by the government, having accumulated arrears to the tune of GHc700 million. Living conditions at the Ho Lepers Village, for instance, is said to be taking a serious turn to the worse, as the allowance of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty, the major means of survival for the inmates, has been in arrears for nine months. Checks done by the New Statesman indicate the situation is the same across the country, not only for the lepers but also for inmates of Children Homes and the aged, who depend on LEAP for survival. According to the Ho Municipal Director of the Social Welfare Department, Atsu Havor, �Things are not moving on well financially. Financial commitment by the government... everything is not moving on well.� Meanwhile, pensioners are also crying over the increasing deterioration of their living conditions as a result of the astronomical increases in the prices of goods and services. The pensioners say the increasing economic hardship in the country is sending many of their colleagues to the grave pre-maturely. According to Joseph Essuamn, Takoradi district chairman of the group, the recent hikes in the price of utilities has made the meagre allowances they receive �a useless thing.� Just like other vulnerable groups, they are calling on the Mahama government to take immediate steps to salvage the ailing economy to make life meaningful for them. But does President Mahama have the strategy? The Executive Director of the Danquah Institute, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, says the president has shown that he has no strategy whatsoever to salvage the Ghanaian economy from its current ailing situation, to ease the suffering of the masses. According to Mr Otchere-Darko, the Mahama government is not prioritizing well enough, adding that with the way the government is managing the economy, it would not need the help of the opposition to run the country down. Gabby has even predicted that in the coming months Ghana could face an economic shutdown, akin to the situation in the United States. According to him, the only economic strategy that has been adopted by the Mahama government, which has led to increased hardship amongst Ghanaians, can be described as �Mahamanomics.� �Mahamanomics, according to Gabby, means �Borrow and spend, borrow more to spend more to borrow to pay debt to borrow more to pay more debt.� Gabby disclosed that Ghana, under the NDC administration, is borrowing GH�1 million every month. This, in his opinion, is simply not sustainable, adding that President Mahama cannot continue depending on borrowing as the only �creative� solution to every problem. Speaking on Multi TV and Joy FM's Newsfile at the weekend, the DI man stated that in 2012 alone, government borrowed in excess of GH�7.1billion from the domestic market, against a projected borrowing of GH�2.7 billion. Specifically, as Gabby intimated, the Mahama government did not even meet its capital-spending target for 2012, adding that, subtracting the amount of money that went into the wage bill and some notable road projects, �what did Government do with the large amount of funds it received, which led to Ghana recording the highest ever annual fiscal deficit of 12.1% in 2012?� Gabby also noted that the GYEEDA Report, which details how nearly GH�1 billion was spent, ostensibly to �buy� votes, tells only part of this worrying story of how the public purse is being abused under this unsustainable culture of borrow and spend. �We have to ask, how was all these billions spent, considering the continued labour agitations over unpaid remunerations; rising arrears owed to contractors, schools, SSNIT, utility providers, GETFund, NHIS, DACF and, the partial freeze on infrastructural development by this same Government?� Gabby added.