Mahama: Covid Funds Should Have Been Enough For Our Recovery
The former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama has reiterated his disagreement with the notion that the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war are responsible for the country’s ailing economy.
Speaking at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) on the theme, “Building the Nation We want”, the former President held that the funds the government received during the pandemic should have been enough to lead the country to economic recovery.
In June this, while accounting to Parliament the government’s Covid funds expenditure, Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta said 18.19 billion was mobilised for economic activities in 2020.
Out of that, GHC1,204,000,000 was from the Government of Ghana Contingency Fund; GhC1,334,000,000 from the World Bank; GHC5,852,950,000 from the IMF; GHc405,650,000 from the Africa Development Bank; GHc504,000,000 from the European Union; and GHc10,000,000,000 from the Bank of Ghana.
These funds were used for programmes such as the Covid-19 Alleviation Programme, Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPRP) 1 & 2, and 2020 Budget Support according to Ofori Atta.
He said that for 2020 and 2021, the government’s Support to Households; Health Response – Equipment Supplies; Health Infrastructure; Security Operations; Economic Relief; COVID-19 Vaccines; Other COVID Related Expenditures cost GHC12 million.
Mr Mahama however believes these expenditures- which were made in the run-up to the 2020 elections- were “reckless”.
According to him the funds mobilised by the government should have been adequate, however, a “deep hole in our finances and the reckless election 2020 expenditure” has resulted in the economic downturn in which the country finds itself.
“In almost robotic fashion, Government and its hirelings recite in unison, that we are at this perilous juncture only because of COVID-19 and the Russia – Ukraine conflict, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
“In fact, because of COVID-19, this government received more than a $6 billion windfall from both domestic and external sources. But for the deep hole in our finances and the reckless election 2020 expenditure, this should have been sufficient to protect Ghanaians against the disease and promote post-pandemic economic recovery.”
He said the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) forecasted the current economic turmoil in 2018 “when alarming increases in our public debt levels and huge expenditure overruns became apparent”, however, the government “turned deaf ears” to their warnings.
“We spoke up. We advised government. We made suggestions. I even asked government to desist from the creative accounting through which Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta was selective in presenting budget data and thereby creating a picture that was rosy but far removed from reality. All these fell on deaf ears.
“Government became even more brazen and reckless and took their mismanagement to dizzying heights in the run up to the 2020 elections amidst boastful claims that they were the best managers of the economy”.
He continued,“Immediately after the elections, it became clear that we had been thrown into a bottomless pit of debt, staggering budget deficits and a rapidly deteriorating fiscal position. The looming disaster at the time required an urgent response.
“Even as the crisis deepened earlier this year, we in the NDC beseeched government with many prescriptions, which I articulated at the “Ghana at the Crossroads speech” in May this year and urged Government to seek multilateral assistance urgently.
“Among others, I also called on President Akufo-Addo to expeditiously convene a national dialogue on the economy at which the best and brightest minds our nation has, could huddle together, and formulate a robust response to our challenges”.
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
