Mahama accuses Akufo-Addo appointees of ‘insatiable greed’

Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Former President John Dramani Mahama, has said that in order to address the challenges of this country Ghanaians must vote out the New Patriotic Party (NPP) from office this year to pave the way for him to lead the country.

In his view, for Ghana to be successful again, there is an urgent need to reset the governance and democratic systems and this can only happen if this current NPP government is rejected at the polls on December 7.

“These last eight years have been very challenging for our democratic institutions. All the gains we have made in strengthening them since 1992 have been eroded. Ghanaians must end this ‘horror movie’ they have been subjected to over the last eight years.

“The pledge to protect the public purse was a hollow promise. Indeed, as some people say humorously, they have not only emptied the public purse; they have stolen the purse itself,” Mr Mahama stated in an address.

He further accused appointees of the Akufo-Addo administration of insatiable greed. He says the greed of the appointees has not even spared the environment, including the water bodies and forest reserves.

“Their catastrophic failure has not only led to an upsurge in corruption but also to disrespect for citizens’ freedoms and rights, the high-handed throwing of citizens into remand custody, and the deprivation of them of food and medical care,” he said in an address on Thursday, October 31.

Mr Mahama further accused the government of lacking integrity, transparency, and accountability.

“It will not accept responsibility for the hardships it has foisted on our society. It still believes and insists it is not responsible for the damage to our economy. It maintains we cannot hold it accountable for skyrocketing the national debt from GH¢120 billion in 2016 to GH¢767 billion in 2024, with very little to show.

“They will not accept that compelling the Central Bank to print more than GH¢70 billion increased inflation to about 54%, leading to the Bank of Ghana posting a loss of over GH¢60 billion,” he said in a speech at the Governance Forum.

He added “I firmly believe that the main reason for democratic governance is to improve the living conditions of ALL citizens—including people living with disabilities, our retirees and young people who are out of school and need jobs —in a tangible, sustainable and equitable way. Democracy must be meaningful to citizens. Democracy must deliver justice to the people. In a democracy, citizens must be free to criticise the government without hearing a weird knock on their doors at night from partisan national security operatives.

“In a true democracy, citizens, including journalists, security personnel, workers of the Electoral Commission, teachers, nurses, and doctors, must be able to go about their daily duties without looking over their shoulders to see who is misinterpreting their actions and democratic choices.

“Their phones must be free from bugging and monitoring. Bad governance threatens inclusive and sustainable development and undermines democracy. In other words, people must be free to speak their minds. As politicians, recent developments should make it clear that the people of Ghana, especially the youth, have begun to be more assertive about their deserved aspirations. They are no longer hoodwinked by superficial compliance, unprincipled positions, mere rhetoric, abuse of vested power, and divisive and irrational tribal or religious politics,” he said.