Sulemana Braimah, the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), has blamed the government for the worsening socioeconomic circumstances in the country, and criticised the use of propaganda in addressing the situation.
“I think that we are in deep crisis even though for purposes of propaganda and public relations, the government continues to say that we have a challenge and not a crisis but we are certainly in deep crisis,” he decried.
Mr Braimah stated that what was happening at this stage should be attributed to poor governance, leadership and incompetence on the part of our leaders which is worsening the situation of the citizenry.
His comments come at a time the country is experiencing fiscal difficulties and a host of other economic challenges with the country’s inflation rate for September hitting 37.2 per cent; the highest in the last decade which is against the 33.9 per cent recorded in August 2022.
The Ghana Statistical Service cited five groups that recorded inflation rates higher than the national average in September were housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (68.8%), furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (51.1%), transport (48.6%), personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services (42.6%) as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages (37.8%).
The implementation of the utility tariff in September 2022 also influenced the surge in inflation in housing, water, electricity and other fuels group which has compelled citizens to accentuate their calls for the government to address the situation.
Mr Braimah acknowledged that the current economic challenges had been influenced by the global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine however, he accused the government of using propaganda and public relation tactics to dilute the severity of the economic crisis in the country.
“The government is resorting to propaganda and public relations tactics to cover the harsh realities facing Ghanaians, when they are actually suffering which has compounded their plight and resorting to such gimmicks will not augur well in ameliorating their plight,” he bemoaned.
The government is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to agree on mutual terms in a proposed Fund bailout request by Ghana and is hopeful of a favourable agreement with the IMF to help put the country’s economy on a sound footing.
