Nat’l Tymes News Desk
THE IMPROVING performance of Ghana’s economy under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration is beginning to create a new political headache for the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), as the two parties intensify their battle over who deserves credit for the country’s economic recovery.
At the centre of the latest political fight is a reported US$1.7 billion GoldBod figure attributed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which the NPP Minority has seized upon to question the government’s management of the economy.
The NPP’s position has, however, come under strong criticism from the NDC, which argues that the opposition is presenting the figure as an actual loss without adequately explaining the accounting and valuation issues surrounding it.
The NDC camp says the opposition’s approach is designed to undermine public confidence in GoldBod and create the impression that the government’s economic recovery programme is failing.
But government supporters say the broader economic picture tells a different story.
They point to declining inflation, improved fiscal management, better foreign exchange conditions, stronger reserves and renewed investor confidence as evidence that the economy is being brought back to stability.
Ruling NDC Roman ‘A’ Branch/Polling Station member in Ayawaso East, Mr. Komla Edudzi Gator, in an interview withNationaltymes.com, argues that these improvements are particularly significant because the Mahama administration inherited an economy facing serious challenges.
According to him, the NDC government has had to take difficult decisions to restore confidence and put public finances back on a sustainable path. He therefore questions why the NPP appears unwilling to recognise the improvements.
He believes the opposition NPP is becoming uncomfortable with the government’s economic performance because it has not been able to identify a major corruption controversy involving the current administration that could give it a strong political advantage.
Mr. Komla Gator further argues that corruption allegations and controversies involving government officials were among the issues the NDC repeatedly used to keep the NPP administration under pressure during its eight years in office.
Today, he says, the political environment is different. With the economy showing signs of recovery and no comparable corruption controversy dominating the national conversation, the NDC believes the NPP is searching for alternative issues to attack the government.
The US$1.7 billion GoldBod controversy, he contends, has therefore become a convenient new political battlefield. The opposition maintains that it has a constitutional responsibility to scrutinise the government and raise concerns about the management of public resources.
He also insists that NPP criticism of GoldBod should not be dismissed as political propaganda. The controversy has further opened an unusual debate over the IMF. The NPP has traditionally criticised excessive reliance on the Fund and has called for greater economic independence.
The Ayawaso East Roman ‘A’ Branch member of the NDC was therefore asking whether the opposition has now become so dependent on IMF-related figures to make its economic case that the NPP has effectively made the Fund its new political ally.
Beyond the political arguments, however, the government faces an equally important responsibility.
Economic recovery cannot remain a matter of statistics alone.
Ordinary Ghanaians expect to see the benefits through lower living costs, more jobs, stronger businesses, improved purchasing power and better opportunities for young people.
The Mahama administration will therefore have to sustain the current gains and ensure that the recovery reaches homes and businesses across the country.
For now, the political battle over the US$1.7 billion GoldBod figure has become more than an argument about accounting.
It has become a contest over the credibility of the government’s economic record, the legacy of the previous NPP administration and, ultimately, who Ghanaians should trust to manage the country’s economy ahead of the next general election in 2028, Mr. Komla Edudzi Gator stressed.
Source: Nationaltymes.com
