I was transparent, Akufo-Addo is not – Mahama

Former President John Mahama has accused the Akufo-Addo administration of lacking transparency.

Mr Mahama stated that when he was the Head of State, his administration was opened to Ghanaians but that is lacking currently.

Speaking at a thank you Forum in Accra on Wednesday November 10, he said “Another key plank of our administration’s strategy was transparency in our public financial management system and in our national discourse.

“The opacity within our current national discourse about economic indices undermines our collective progress. Debates about the true state of the nation, its debt levels, exchange rate trajectory or even growth numbers underpin the need for strong institutions that cannot be subverted by individual preferences.

“Under the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), we implemented best-practice control systems to improve accountability in public financial management. We plan to pick up from where we left off. We also promulgated the Public Financial Management Act to align our fiscal management practices with international standards.

“Whiles strengthening the economy for sustainability our government further had our eyes firmly on growth and productivity. We did not believe we could recklessly borrow our way out of underdevelopment.

“A major hinderance to mobilizing sufficient resources to fund our development is corruption. We have in recent times witnessed acts of corruption, cronyism and decadence that lower the pedigree and reputation of the Office of the President – not forgetting the dubious and opaque Agyapa Gold Royalties deal, which this government is still hankering after with plans of executing and hosting in a tax haven.

“I must at this point recognise the nationalistic truth and outpouring of the sentiments of many Ghanaians by the Catholic Bishops Conference on Monday. Until we are bold to reflect what we are all experiencing under this government, the situation will continue to worsen, and we are all going to be worse off from suffering.”

He added “civil servants, doctors, nurses, teachers, businessmen and women, traders, farmers, drivers, and the teeming unemployed youth of Ghana, this government is our common national tragedy. We may yet have to endure these very difficult times for a while more due to a combination of factors.

“But I come to you this evening with a simple message. Do not – out of avoidable hardships and difficulties – despair to the point of losing hope and giving up on Ghana. Do not lose hope! Instead, I urge you to hope and work hard for a better Ghana and a better future under a new NDC administration in 2025.

“I am talking about a future where your name, your ethnicity, your tribe, your circumstances of birth will not determine how you are treated in your own country by your own government. I recall the words of the Most Reverend Japhet Yao Ledo during my thank you tour of the Volta Region, and I stand this evening to assure the people of the region and the nation at large that all successive NDC administrations will continue to be national and people-centred ones, sharing the national cake, equally and beneficially to all regions and parts of the country.”