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Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), says the current state of Ghana’s cocoa industry, which is in serious decline, is an indictment on the Mahama government.

According to Nana Akufo Addo, if Ghanaians keep the Mahama government in office for another 4 years Ghana's debt will hit at least GH¢300 billion by the end of their 12 years in office.

Read full details of what he said on the final day of his ‘Rise and Build’ tour of the Western Region on Thursday, September 24.

No more 4 years for Mahama

The current state of Ghana’s cocoa industry, which, according to Nana Akufo-Addo, is in serious decline, is an indictment on the Mahama government.

“Can you imagine that cocoa processing companies, because of the shortfall in Ghanaian production, are having either to cut output or to import cocoa from Cote d’Ivoire?” he asked. This, he said, can be likened to the popular English adage of “carrying coal to Newcastle.”

The NPP flagbearer noted that “this is where we are today. That we, in Ghana, are having to import cocoa to support Ghanaian enterprises. It is a tragedy, it is a shame. It is the biggest indictment on Mahama’s policies and on his performance as President of this country,” Akufo-Addo added.

Nana Akufo-Addo added that Ghana finds herself in a situation which requires nothing but change from the 2016 election, so the country can be rebuilt.

“Our industries are down, enterprises are folding up, there are no jobs for our people. Our enterprises can no longer plan for the future. We have currency problems, energy problems, our economy is in tatters. We have to do something about it,” he charged NPP members.

He continued, “The NDC is looking for 12 straight years in office, if they win in 2012. In 2009 when they came into office Ghana's debt was GH¢9.5 billion. This was Ghana’s debt from Nkrumah’s time to when Kufuor left office. Four years later, by 2012 ending, it had gone up more than three times to GH¢33.5billion. The NDC got a second term in office, in 2012. We are not even at the end of 2015, but Ghana's debt has shot up another 3 times to GH¢95 billion!”

At this rate, Nana Akufo-Addo stated that, if Ghanaians keep the Mahama government in office for another 4 years Ghana's debt will hit at least GH¢300 billion by the end of their 12 years in office.

“What is the future of our youth? What future can they have with these statistics? That is why we have a huge responsibility to reverse the trend of our future and bring Ghana back onto the path of progress and prosperity,” he said.