GHS 60 Billion Losses Versus GHS 22 Billion Losses: The Politics of Double Standards

Ghana is fast losing the credibility test, as some of the very individuals elected to safeguard the national interest appear increasingly consumed with defending narrow partisan agendas.

Only a few years ago, elements within the NPP mounted a vigorous defence of the Bank of Ghana’s reported GHS 60 billion loss in 2022, at a time when virtually every major economic indicator was in free fall. Inflation surged to about 54 percent, the cedi depreciated steeply, the exchange rate approached GHS 17 to the dollar, fuel prices climbed above GHS 20 per litre, and nearly one million Ghanaians were pushed into poverty.

Pensioners suffered the harshest consequences. The economic prescriptions imposed during that period placed unbearable burdens on ordinary citizens, including many elderly Ghanaians who were driven to an early grave. Yet, even today, some of those who defended those policies continue to insist they were necessary and appropriate. Their comments reveal a troubling insensitivity to the suffering that millions endured.

It is therefore unconscionable for individuals who justified a GHS 60 billion loss in 2022 to now be shouting from the rooftops about a reported GHS 22 billion loss—especially when several key economic indicators have improved markedly. With inflation now below 6 percent, the cedi exhibiting greater stability, and the broader economy showing signs of recovery, the national conversation should focus on the substance of the losses: their causes, the accountability mechanisms, and the safeguards needed to prevent a recurrence. What it must not become is another round of partisan point‑scoring.

This glaring double standard must end. Ghanaians deserve political representatives who place the national interest above party loyalty. One cannot defend a far larger loss when one’s party is in government and suddenly discover outrage when the political circumstances shift.

The electorate must be credited with enough intelligence to recognise this hypocrisy. Ghana’s economic challenges are too serious to be trivialised into partisan propaganda.

Whether the figure is GHS 60 billion or GHS 22 billion, every loss of public resources demands scrutiny, accountability, and transparency. What must never be accepted is selective outrage that treats the same principle differently depending on which political party occupies power.

Mike Kalley
Sociopolitical Analyst

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