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When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked rule people mourn (Proverbs 29:2).
Don’t ever believe a politician is a leader because the system we have produces politicians who know nothing about leadership and yet leading us, politicians are concerned about the next election, however, leaders are concerned about the next generation (Dr. Myles Monroe).
It is time to call a spade a spade and not a digging instrument that looks like a big spoon.
It is an undeniable fact that President Akufo Addo and his government have failed Ghanaians. Today the ordinary Ghanaian cannot even afford three square meals a day.
Food inflation is over 50%, prices of fuel have increased over 100% and yet salaries of workers remain stagnant. The cost of living has risen exponentially.
The tragedy and irony at once is that our president and leaders continue to live lavish lifestyles, flying private jets with all the modern technology at the expense of the ordinary taxpayer.
The tragedy we are confronted with in this country is not the problem of resources, money is not the problem we have as a people, the problem we have in Ghana is leaders who do not care about the plight of their people, leaders who enjoy free fuel coupons for themselves, wives, children, and girlfriends while the ordinary Ghanaian would have to endure over 100% increment in fuel and food prices whiles salaries remain the same.
At least Togbe Afede the XIV has taught us that there can be good leadership in Ghana. Togbe Afede has demonstrated that there are leaders still in Ghana with a conscience to do that which is good and right, with a conscience to do that which is in the best interest of the general population. And to all those who in their small ways are doing the right things devoid of corruption, to ensure the development of our country I would say that Ghana appreciates them.
Ghana has no right to be poor, Ghana has no right to beg for alms from donor countries and organisations before we are able to pay our workers. No child in Ghana deserves to sit under trees in the 21st century when Ghana produces several million ounces of gold every year worth billions of dollars. No pregnant woman deserves to die because of our deplorable health systems in a nation which has oil in commercial quantities.
It is evident beyond every reasonable doubt that there is no conscious systematic effort to develop the country. If in hard times like this when the price of diesel is GHC 13 a litre, when inflation is over 30% according to the Ghana Statistical Service which in reality is more than 100% when national service students have not received their allowances when nurses who have completed school have still not been posted, when hundreds of thousands of graduates from our tertiary institutions are jobless, the priority of our leaders is to give out several millions of dollars of the taxpayers' money to build a national cathedral.
And yet some have criticised a man who has refunded his exgratia to be used for the development of the nation.
Today we have a president who is blaming the economic woes of the country on the Russia-Ukraine war, meanwhile, Ukraine, where the bombs are landing, have a currency which is performing better than the Cedi. Russia has one of the strongest currencies amidst all the sanctions by western governments. Even Nigeria with its bad leadership, Boko Haram, mass kidnapping, and unprecedented level of insecurity has its Naira performing better than the Ghana Cedi. And yet all this government is thinking about is to break the 8.
Source: Google
As can be seen, from the chart above the Naira was 80 Naira to 1 Cedi, the cedi has seen a free fall to the Naira from 80 Naira in 2018 to 39 Naira in 2022. I used Nigeria because Nigeria is one of the worst performing countries in Africa amidst its insecurity and energy crises and yet far outperforming Ghana. This is a clear case of bad leadership and governance. The least said about the dollar the better.
We still have at post a finance minister who has supervised the worst-performing currency in the entire world. We have a government that has supervised the destruction of our lands through galamsey with the involvement of key party members. And all attempts to solve the problem are only mere rhetoric.
The sad truth is that IMF cannot save Ghana, World Bank classified Ghana as a high-debt distressed country with a debt to GDP to hit 104%. Ghanaians would therefore have to brace themselves for the worse to come in 2023 and 2024. In October 2021 the dollar to cedi exchange rate was 1 USD to 6 Cedi, as of the date of writing of this paper the rate exceeded 11 Cedis to a Dollar representing over a 100% increase. All things being equal the cedi is likely to hit 25 Cedis to a dollar by the end of 2023 if proper measures are not taken to address the current state of the economy. The decline in the exchange rate is more as a result of Ghana’s economic mismanagement than any global recessionary effects.
Mehmet Murat ildan once said, “189 different types of donkeys have been identified in the world, but there is another type of donkey that has been forgotten in the list: Nations that continue to support their country’s government foolishly no matter how bad it is”.