<<Print>>

President Akufo-Addo has insisted that the current economic situation in the country is due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the Covid-19 pandemic.

This Russia/Ukraine/Covid excuse of the government has continuously been shot down by critics; saying the economic challenges is mainly due to the mismanagement and reckless spending of the government.

However, the President while delivering this year’s State of the Nation Address has insisted “the economy was doing well until the covid-19 and the war in Ukraine took us off course”

I've Not Been Reckless

He further noted that: “Mr Speaker, let me state emphatically that we have not been reckless in borrowing and in spending” 

“Mr Speaker, we have spent money on things that are urgent, to build roads and bridges and schools, to train our young people and equip them to face a competitive world”, 

He said: “Considering the amount of work that still needs to be done on the state of our roads, the bridges that have to be built, considering the number of classrooms that need to be built, the furniture and equipment needs at all stages of education, considering the number of children who should be in school and are not, considering the number of towns and villages that still do not have access to potable water, I daresay no one can suggest we have over-borrowed or spent recklessly”. 

He said: “Yes, I have been in a hurry to get things done, and this includes massive developments in agriculture, education, health, irrigation, roads, rails, ports, airports, sea defence, digitisation, social protection programmes, industrialisation and tourism”. 

“We can be justifiably proud of the many things we have managed to do in the past six (6) years. As I go around the country, I hear the pleas for roads, schools, hospitals, and, as the rainy season comes, I wish, as every other Ghanaian does, that we would have built more drains than we have. And I wish we had the resources to do more”. 

But, Mr Speaker, I am proud of the amount of work that we have done, especially in the road sector. Roads constitute the largest number of questions asked in this House by Members of Parliament; a large amount of the monies we borrow are for road construction. Shall we dare stop constructing roads?”