Chairman of the Governing Council of Wisconsin International University College, also a retired Appeals Court Judge Noble Justice Isaac Duose has said it is untenable for Ghana to blame the current economic hardship on Russia and Ukraine war.
He said Ghana’s economy was in a mess before the Russia and Ukraine war blaming it on a lack of clear economic direction and mismanagement.
The retired Appeals Court Judge stated that the fundamentals of the economy are bad hence any little external shock worsens the plight of the economy.
“…and stop blaming the world. I hear people say that if the world in Ukraine Ghana is going to suffer, yes we suffer if we allow ourselves to suffer. Ukraine doesn’t give us cassava, doesn’t give us yams, doesn’t give us cocoyam, doesn’t give us rice, doesn’t give us oil so why are going to suffer if Russia and Ukraine are fighting, how much cocoa do we give to Ukraine or Russia, ladies and gentlemen, how much gold do we send to Russia or Ukraine, how is our market going to be affected when we don’t sell to Ukraine, we are still selling gold to British, we are still selling gold to the Americas, and they are not in war
He added “Sometimes you sit there and listen someone has been appointed managing director of a company, you ask yourself what does he know about that business .sometimes a teacher (I’m not putting teachers down), teacher appointed managing director of a transport company, then you ask yourself so can’t the government see anybody who is doing transport business to be the managing director of a transport company? A teacher can go and be a headmaster or principal. To lift a teacher and make him managing director for a transport company do you realistically think the business will succeed?.”
“So when we are given power even though we can appoint anybody anywhere, nobody will challenge, you have to use a little bit of discretion. We have a whole Tema Oil Refinery with all the working staff from managing director to cleaner doing nothing and collecting salary and then we complain that we are going broke why we won’t go broke “.
Noble Justice Isaac Duose said this when speaking as a distinguished chairman at the West Africa Heroes of Distinction conference and Awards held in Accra.
There is serious economic hardship in Ghana as food prices and fuel balloons. But the government says the Russia and Ukraine war is partly to be blamed.
Ghana’s public debt stock rose to ¢351.8 billion in December 2021, from ¢344.5 billion in November 2021, about 80.1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the March 2022 Summary of Economic and Financial Data by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has revealed.
This confirmed Economists, Analysts, and Market Watchers’ fears that the country’s debt had gotten out of hand and was estimated at 80% of GDP in 2021.
Meanwhile, Ghana’s economy is forecast to expand by 5.8% in 2022, the Oxford Business Group has disclosed.
This follows a challenging two years against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic as the country works to implement fiscal consolidation measures.
“As Africa’s largest miner of gold, the world’s second-largest producer of cocoa, and one of the continent’s most promising hydrocarbons players, Ghana has seen healthy growth in recent years. The country weathered the Covid-19 pandemic better than many of its regional and income-level peers, and is forecast to record significant GDP growth in 2022, in part because Ghana’s political stability continues to make it a haven for foreign investment”, it pointed out in its March 2022 Ghana Economic Outlook report.
While Ghana continues to capitalize on its hydrocarbons potential, the Oxford Business Group explained that the country is also focused on developing other key sectors.
Source: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Obed Ansah
