Ghana Needs Strong Teams and not Team Betrayers to Deliver Economic Prosperity

The Ghanaian economy have been bedeviled with many challenges making it hard for the average Ghanaian to cope. Cost of living have become unbearable and the Cedi depreciation have eaten away the real incomes of many Ghanaians. A glance at the Bank of Ghana’s website will inform you that the Ghana Cedi have suffered a depreciation of nearly GHC2.00 to the US Dollar in just one month.

The economic managers have given various explanations for the woeful economic situation we have found ourselves. One key personality that should be explaining to us how he intends to bring the economy back on track rather chose a convenient excuse that he is only a driver’s mate and that by the grace of God if he is given the nod to lead, he will implement his policies that are at complete variance with the current government’s policies of which is a key member.

As a member of the team, we all expected him to take responsibility and provide a detailed road map of how he is going to lead the team to ensure that the woeful economy returns the smiles we all so much desire. It was therefore not out of place when President Mahama’s Running Mate, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang teased that she will not in the advancement of self-serving ambition, declare to the world that she was only the driver's mate at the time of reckoning. It is clear that Dr. Bawumia is running away from the woeful economic performance because he wants votes and not because he is competent and that he is not being listened to by President Nana Addo and his other team members.

Unlike Dr. Bawumia, President Mahama has not been that lucky. The implementation of the Single Spine Salary policy (SSSS), the memory of president Mills’ death, the power challenges due to luck of investment in the power sector by Former President Kuffour’s government and the decline in petroleum prices have had a significant negative impact on the economy at the time.

In all of this, President Mahama never publicly declared whether as Vice President or President to the world that he is not in charge. He has always demonstrated leadership by accepting responsibility and proceeded to working hard to ensure a better and prosperous Ghana is created for all to enjoy.

Remember, the implementation of the SSSS put a lot of pressure on our finances. According to the 2014 budget statement the first three quarters of 2013, expenditure on compensation of employees constituted 74.4 percent of tax revenue and 96.5 percent of non-earmarked tax revenue. This means that only about 26 percent of tax revenue is left to be spread on goods and services and capital expenditure.

The trajectory of the compensation bill and its sustainability is of concern to Government, Employers, Organized Labour and other stakeholders. President Mahama at the time lamented on the toll the SSSS is having on government finances saying ‘the meat is now down to the bones.’ He explained that the SSSS has caused personnel emoluments to more than tripled from GH¢2.5 billion end 2009 to about GH¢8 billion in 2013, a staggering 60.9 percent of our entire national revenue.

Another issue that should be noted is the power challenges we faced. Unlike president Kuffour who assembled pastors to go pray for rain to drop for the Akosombo Dam to get water, President Mahama took the bull by the horn to assure Ghanaians that he was going to fix the power challenges. He invested in energy generation by bringing in new power plants including AMERI, Sunon Asogli and others. He further ensured to the realization of Ghana Gas Company so that we are able to process our own gas to power the thermal plants. Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA), which the minority then described as nuisance taxes, was introduced to raise money to address the financial gaps in the power sector for instance, payments to the Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

By the end of 2015, the power challenges were solved as government put in place plans that made us achieve the fastest mobilization of emergency power in the history of Ghana. In President Mahama’s State of the Nation’s Address delivered before parliament in February 2016, he announced that, ‘I stood before this very august house and promised to fix the power sector deficit that at the time had become a significant constraint to the economic growth and a distraction to Ghanaians both home and at work.

“This was a time of considerable national anxiety. The deficit brought about a severe power rationing and I was very much concerned. Ghanaians had to sleep in darkness or spend money to fuel generators. Businesses faced challenges, and I expressed my full regret to the nation and I took full responsibility as President and leader of this nation.’

By accepting responsibility and quickly fixing the problem, one would expect that President Mahama be pat on the back but Dr. Bawumia at the time will have none of that. He criticized that, ‘this government inherited an economy without dumsor. It is their own financial mismanagement which caused it so we see no reason why they deserve credit for fixing a problem they created.’

Another significant issue was the drop in petroleum prices the world over. In 2014, oil prices dropped from $120 per barrel to $50 per barrel throwing the government’s budget out of gear. Oil revenues dropped significantly. It must go into all ears that the current government could not have handled this choke.

The fall in crude oil prices continued in 2015 and the Finance Minister was forced to go to parliament to revise the 2015 petroleum benchmark price of $99.38 per barrel to $50. Consequently, the total petroleum receipts were expected to drop by GHC2.7 billion. This is 64.4 percent of the projected receipts of GHC4.2 billion.

The opposition then led by Dr. Bawumia will not have any word from the government at the time. He chastised President Mahama as being incompetetent and wastful saying, ‘the crisis we find ourselves in is not due to falls in commodity prices, it is due to corruption, incompetence and mismanagement.’ He further asked that, ‘how can global phenomena skip Cote d’Ivoire and the other surrounding countries and just attack Ghana?’ Comparisons was not only made of only Cote d’Ivoire but also Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Nigeria. The NPP government does not want to hear any sort of such comparisons today.

President Mahama despite all the vilifications and name calling focused himself on fixing the numerious challenges we faced. He encouraged Ghanaians to believe him to deliver and he actually delivered. He never for once branded himself as an angel and blamed Prof. Mills or Amissah Arthur for the challenges we faced during those days.

Ghanaians should be able to identify between John Mahama and Dr. Bawumia who can lead a team. While John Mahama accepts responsibility and goes ahead to fix the problems with his team, Dr. Bawumia on the other hand will conveniently blame his team members presenting himself to the public as clean.

President Mahama’s Running Mate has proven in her outdooring that she has a strong understanding of working with teams when

she said, ‘I will share in our collective successes and, share responsibility for our setbacks if any.’ It was even more remarkable when she mentioned that, ‘at the time of reckoning, HE John Dramani Mahama, I will not, in the advancement of self-serving ambition, declare to the world that I was only the driver's mate.

These are the kind of leaders we need as a country to take us out of the woeful economy. A woeful economy that cannot pay its debts. A woeful economy that pushed average inflation from 14 percent under Mills/Mahama to 17 percent, Cedi depreciation to the dollar from 13.96 percent to 14.35 percent, minimum wage from $2 to $1 and so on and so forth.

Unlike President Mahama, Dr. Bawumia is a team betrayer. Dr. Bawumia, when given the nod, will find another way to blame his Running Mate and other team members just like he is currently doing to President Nana Addo. Credibility is important and President Mahama has abundantly proven it and so the ideal candidate for Ghana to build a strong team to bring progress, prosperity and development to Ghana.