A section of the public has reacted to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s televised address to the nation on Ghana’s economy last Sunday, describing it as vague.
In the address the President, among others assured of fresh inflows of dollars being injected into the foreign exchange markets as part of measures to stop the continuous depreciation of the Ghana Cedi.
He also touched on ensuring the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) improved revenue collection efforts from the current tax revenue to GDP ratio of 13 per cent to between 18-20 per cent to be competitive with countries within West Africa.
However in separate interviews with the Ghanaian Times, some members of the public described the president’s address as mere words that would yield no results.
Mr Obed Djanie, a businessman said this was not the time to waste money on televised address to make promises again, adding that acting expediently to address the hardship in Ghana should be government’s focus.
“We are not interested in listening to words that will give us false hope. All we want at the moment is to see a positive change in the economy. The kind of anger we are feeling right now will not allow us to hear anything. The government must be up and doing by implementing measures to save this unpleasant situation we are in currently,” he said.
Michael Kugbadzor, a student of the Mountcrest University College was of the view that the government deserved to be given some time to fix the economy as other countries were also facing serious economic challenges.
According to Ms Stella Nyarko, a banker, blaming every challenge on the Russia Ukraine war was uncalled for, saying the moment the President mentioned Russia and Ukraine in his address she lost hope that there would be something meaningful from his address.
She stated that reducing the high number of goods being imported into the country was a move leaders of the country must consider in efforts to support local industries.
Over reliance on foreign products which have flooded the markets, she stressed was one of the major problems the Ministry of Trade and Industry must look at “but it is unfortunate no one cares. This government has failed us.”
A mobile phone dealer and father of four, Mr Bismark Edusei stated that he was not surprised the President did not meet his expectations in the address he delivered, adding that feeding his family had become a problem for him now because patronage of his items had drastically reduced.
He also attributed the low sales he has been recording since the beginning of the year to the economic crisis the country had been plunged into.
“Even though I know sacking the finance minister, Mr Ken Ofori Atta will not automatically change the current terrible economy, I was expecting the President to announce the dismissal of the Minister of Finance to at least make some of us feel he is listening to us but he did not. At the moment everything points to the fact that this government has nothing good to offer us. We are also tired and frustrated”, he lamented.
BY RAISSA SAMBOU
