Former President John Mahama has said that the current economic challenges being faced by the country can best be resolved by experienced persons and not ‘economics lecturers’ who merely engage in theories.
Addressing delegates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at Tatale in the Northern Region as part of his nationwide campaign tour to lead the party into the 2020 presidential elections, Mahama said experienced persons will better understand the situation and manage it in a way that will bring about stability rather than “economic lecturers who are just theorists.”
“…that is what economics lecturers who are just theorists can come and lecture but they don’t understand that the practicals of running governments is completely different. NDC has done it before, at any time that NDC has been in government, this country has made progress,” he said.
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John Mahama further indicated that following what he described as the poor performance of the NPP government in the last 21 months, Ghanaians are ready to give the NDC another chance.
John Mahama further attributed the current economic hardship in the country to the collapse of seven (7) indigenous banks.
According to him, the banking industry is closely linked to all other sectors of the economy, hence the collapse of the banks has caused a ripple effect which has worsened the situation in the other sectors.
“Everything is linked to each other. And it takes somebody who understands the market and the realities of governing to know that if you are collapsing banks, it is going to affect traders, it is going to affect farmers,” Mahama said.
‘You can lecture on economy; but reality will expose you’
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John Mahama had earlier ridiculed the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government over the challenges it is facing in managing the country’s economy.
Referencing the NPP’s campaigns ahead of the 2016 elections, he said the party was only good at making promises but lacked the ability to properly manage the economy and deliver on those promises.
“You can do all the propaganda you like to win political power, when you come to government; the reality of the people’s life will expose you,” he said.
“Where are the factories, where are the dams, where is the $1 million per constituency. It is easier to make electoral promises than to fulfill them. Making promises is easy, fulfilling them is a problem. That is what NPP has taught us. It is easier to give political lectures on the economy than to manage the economy,” he said.