Mahama criticises government’s response to current economic woes

Former president John Mahama has criticised the government for what he calls its failure to handle the economy as it should.

Addressing members of the Minority at a retreat over the weekend, Mahama said it was not enough for the government to reject the claims of critics.

“The economic hardship exists and it’s said to remain for an extended period. Amid this gloomy outlook those responsible for the mess refuse to exhibit contrition and sobriety; and contrition means sadness, they should be sad for leading us into this,” Mahama said.

According to him, “in a government where honour and responsibility are respected, probably the chair of the economic management team that has thrust us into this mess would have stepped down or been dismissed.”

“Rather he has chosen a gibing deficit in leadership attributes by making untenable excuses and seeking to shift blame onto the government that left power almost six years ago,” Mahama added.

Mahama also asked the Minority members to work extra hard at limiting what he called the excessive powers of the executive.

“This unprecedented parliamentary outlook reflects years of criticisms and demands by our people for a strong and assertive legislative arm of government that is truly independent of the excessively powerful executive.

“It also reflects a desire for greater scrutiny of the executive and more efficient exercise of your oversight functions, especially for those of you in the minority group,” he added.

For his part, the technical economic advisor to the Vice President Dr Tiah Kabiru Mahama said the government has done what it could under the circumstances.

“When people are in crises it is expected that the people will rate the government poorly but when you look at the development history of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo from 2017 until 2019 there’s no doubt the performance of the government has been phenomenal,” he said.