Greenstreet Jabs Mahama On Economy

The Presidential candidate of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Ivor Greenstreet, says Ghana’s economy is in a dire strait due to mismanagement of the country’s resources by the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).

According to him, this has created a situation where the country is “living from hand to mouth”.

Generated funds, he said, in the country are not enough to develop the country thereby providing a decent livelihood for the people.

President Mahama has boasted on his “Accounting to the People” tour that Ghana’s economy is resilient.

He argued the policies and infrastructural developments his government has put in place have helped to push the country’s economy forward.

But speaking in an exclusive interview with Joy News’ Francis Abban, Mr. Greenstreet says: “We are in a very challenged state”.

If Ghana’s economy is in a good state as the President would want us to believe, we would not have run to the IMF to inject some funds into the economy, he said.

He blamed the situation on the inability of the government to take control of the many resources of the country.

“We are not earning enough on the resources God has given us as a nation”, he bemoans adding this could be addressed “If the government has the plan to achieve it”.

Unemployment:

Reacting to a question about unemployment, Mr. Greenstreet expressed worry saying: “It is a terrible situation for someone to spend money in school and end up getting no future”.

He refuted the claim of the government that it has created about 800, 000 jobs in the country.

If the President is going by an evidence-based analysis, he should have shown where those jobs are, he said.

Security alert:

Commenting on the threat of terror attack on the country, Mr. Greenstreet says everything going on in Ghana shows “We are not ready for [attack]”.

He says the government has not done a lot by way of improving local capacity in the area of intelligence gathering.

He also noted that the access to right kind of intelligence data has been a problem in the country which he says has to be addressed.

EC and November Election:

Mr. Greenstreet did not mince words in saying the timing for the rebranding of the EC was wrong.

He says the EC should rather be interested in how it is going to address the delicate issues raised about the November 2016 polls.

Touching on the chances of the CPP at the election, Mr. Greenstreet says: “I have been a General Secretary for long so I know the terrain and I know my party will do very well”.

We want to offer ourselves as servants to improve the lives of Ghanaians, he said, adding: “We believe there is a fertile ground”.

He called on Ghanaians to reject both the governing NDC and the opposition NPP at the polls so that the mandate will be give to the CPP.