Ghana in Focus Special: Analysing the Legacy of Nana Akufo Addo's Presidency Part I

In this week's episode of "Ghana in Focus," we take a comprehensive and critical look at the legacy of President Nana Akufo-Addo. With elections just five months away, it's a crucial time to reflect on the socio-economic challenges that have defined his tenure since 2017.

In examining Nana Akufo-Addo's legacy, the episode provides a critical analysis of various socio-economic indices that define his leadership. Reflecting on the 2016 election, it recalls how promises of change and economic improvement led to his victory. 

However, the current economic landscape paints a different picture. The Ghanaian currency, the cedi, has depreciated significantly, losing a colossal 52.4% of its value in 2022 alone. This devaluation has made life increasingly difficult for Ghanaians, with the cost of living skyrocketing. The episode argues that the economic woes cannot be solely attributed to external factors like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. Instead, it points to reckless borrowing and mismanagement of the economy as primary causes.

The exodus of major companies from Ghana due to prohibitive business costs, such as high rent and electricity tariffs, further underscores the economic turbulence. Additionally, the government's failure to deliver on its promises of job creation has resulted in mass unemployment and subsequent migration of Ghanaian youth to North America and Europe. 

Corruption is another major issue explored in this episode. Despite promises to tackle corruption, it has thrived under Nana Akufo-Addo's administration. The episode cites examples such as the Cecilia Dapaah affair, where large sums of money were found stashed in her property. The special prosecutor, whose job is to investigate corrupt activities, has also been targeted by the office of the presidency. This lack of political will to root out corruption has led to a significant decline in public trust.

Despite the government's initiatives, the agricultural sector is struggling. Issues with the quality of seedlings and the introduction of genetically modified seeds have not helped. The episode argues that the government's failure to provide subsidies and support to farmers has led to a food crisis, with many Ghanaians unable to afford basic foodstuffs. 

In conclusion, this special edition of "Ghana in Focus" provides a comprehensive analysis of the issues facing Ghana under President Nana Akufo-Addo. From high interest rates to youth migration, from crippling inflation and agricultural struggles, it highlights the pressing issues that need to be urgently addressed. As Ghana prepares to go to the polls, it is a crucial time for reflection and action to ensure a better future for its citizens. 

Chapters

• 0:05 Examining Nana Akufo-Addo's Legacy
• 18:44 Challenges of Ghana's Economy and Governance
• 30:00 Agricultural Failures and Rampant Corruption

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Welcome to this week's edition of Ghana in Focus with myself Kwame, ghanaian broadcaster, writer, journalist, podcaster and entrepreneur. And in this week's edition of Ghana in Focus it's a special we are examining the legacy of Ghana's president, nana Okufo-Addo, so in the dying months of his presidency, because Ghana goes to the polls in less than five months' time Ghana goes to the polls on December 7th we thought it appropriate to look at the legacy of Ghana's current president, nana Akufo-Addo. And also, today is a republic day, a day when Ghana became republic on July the 1st 1960. So this is the apt time to look at the legacy of Nana Akufo-Addo, bearing in mind that he has a few months left to be in office because, like I said, the Ghana elections take place on December the 7th and we'll be giving you another special on the election itself what's at stake and why it is such an important election near the time. All right, so this is this theme of today's Gardening Focus looking at the legacy of Nana Akufo-Addo. And so, before we start the podcast, if you like what you hear, be sure to it to your friends, family, social media networks. You know we're on the YouTube. Let's look at Vagana African Focus. We're going to get 200 subscribers by the end of the year. So please subscribe to Vagana African Focus on YouTube. We're also on Spotify. Again, we're going to get 800 followers on Spotify, so if I've gotten near 500, say thank you to all those on Spotify who are following me, and you can do the same by looking for Ghana African Focus on Spotify. Click, follow, okay, meaning that every time I upload a new podcast, spotify will notify you.

Speaker 1: 2:31

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Speaker 1: 3:50

Alright, now let's get into this week's podcast, looking at the legacy of Nana Akufo-Addo. Part 1 yes, there's a Part 1, we'll do the Part 2 next week because there's a lot that we can't cramp in. You know, 30, 35 minutes minutes. So we're going to do a part one and part two so we can take time to go have a deeper analysis of uh, the legacy of Ghana's presence and so on. This you know, I'm not MPP supporter, I'm not the NDC supporter. I'm not an NGC supporter. I'm a Ghanaian, yeah, and as a Ghanaian journalist and writer, I think I have a duty to my listeners and also to my journalistic background to have a critical analysis and do a critical take on the legacy of Ghana's current president, nana Addo. Dankwa Akufo Addo, who became Ghana president on January 7, 2017, after winning the 2016 election. So this is not bashing the president. Like I say, this is using my genetic hat to give you a critical analysis and assessment of the eight years of Nana Ado, dankwa Akufo Ado, and we will. As part of our analysis and assessment, we'll look at different aspects of the you could say the indices, or the socio-economic indices that a president should and must be judged upon during his time in office. Okay, so not in any particular order. Today we're going to look at the economy, governance, jobs, corruption and agriculture. So this will feature in part, one of the legacy of Nana Okufado.

Speaker 1: 6:08

And so in 2016, during the election campaign, you know, the mantra was changed because there had been eight years of NDC and that people got tired of the NDC because the NDC had put the country into a power crisis. That they call dumso in the three language. Dumso, which means on, off, dum means off, so means on, so off, on, off, on is what you know the then opposition Nana Akufado used as justification for why people in Ghana actually voted for him. Again, you know, the economy was in a bad shape in 2016. You think it's bad now? It wasn't as bad in 2016. And that's something we'll come on to later when we look at the economy.

Speaker 1: 7:07

So the economy was another key issue as to why Ghanaians decided to vote for Nana Ado, dan Kwa Akufo Ado in 2016. Because he himself said that you know we live in a land of plenty, but you know we are still poor. So in Chi, he was saying that. Um, he also mentioned about the you know economy. Saying that you know, uh, because Because the city back then was about 4.2 to a dollar and the GDP debt ratio at the time was about 57%. That showed the competence of the NDC and the Mahama and that if Ghanaians were to give him the nod, then he had the men, ie, in this case, his vice president, aladji Mahmood Bambia, would be the head of the economic management team and he would be the one with his team who would actually address the mess that Ghana was economically in 2017. And so this was why, you know, ghanaians voted in droves for Nana Akufo-Addo because he had a big majority that meant that the 2016 election did not need to go to the second round. So he won a big majority whereby he got more than 51% of the vote and the then President Mahama got 44%. And so this Ashadin Nana Addo, has been the president of Ghana starting January 2017.

Speaker 1: 9:13

And so, when we look at the economy, for myself and many, many others, this is what you know Nana Akufo-Adobo judged the most of the economy, how he dealt with the economy and, unfortunately, you know those promises that he made in 2016,. He has failed to live up to those promises. So, as you know, in other podcasts I've done, you know, throughout the last couple of years, about Ghana's economy and about the cost of living crisis in Ghana. You know that the economy in Ghana is in a very, very, very bad shape. You know and this is not like I said it is, you know, irresponsible to lay the blame for Ghana's economic woes simply because of the Covid pandemic and also the Russia Ukraine war, because, like I said another podcast, that the World Bank, as early as spring 2019, warned Ghana, that the World Bank, as early as spring 2019, warned Ghana that the levels of borrowing was too much, that it is not sustainable, and so it is not the Russian-Ukrainian war or COVID that has put Ghana's economy out of sync. It is wanton, irresponsible, reckless borrowing and also mismanagement of the economy of Ghana that has led it to the economy that we have now, to the extent that now this government, who said that they will never go to the IMF to get a loan, a bailout, a bailout went to the IMF last year, 2023, to seek, you know, a loan or financial assistance from the IMF in order to help it a balance his books and also be, more importantly, debt restructure and I'll come to debt restructure in more detail in part two of looking at Nana Addo's legacy, because the debt restructure. I don't think a lot of Ghanians really understand the severe impact of what the debt restructuring programme, how Ghanians are going to be impacted for that. But, like I said, I'll leave that for part 2.

Speaker 1: 11:49

But the economy of Ghana is in a very, very, very bad way. When this government came into office January 2017, it was roughly 4.2 cities to a dollar 4.2. So this is to a dollar 4.2. Yeah, today, as I'm talking to you, the 27th of June 2023, when this podcast has been recorded, it is 15.5 to a dollar. Yeah, so it's appreciated under this government by more than 300%. Yeah, within this eight-year period Between 2017, it's only eight years yet between 2017 and 2024. The city has been devalued by more than 300% In actual fact, according to Bloomberg and other reputable sources, the city was the worst performing currency in the world in 2022, losing a colossal 52.4% of its value. Yeah, that alone, the devaluation of the city. That alone, right, is enough to say that this government has messed up when it comes to the economy, because the city devaluation alone has meant and this is a key thing that Guyanese need to really understand, devoid of any part of this that Guyanese are worse off today, june 2024, than what they were even in June 2022, because in June 2022 it was 8 cities roughly 8.5 to a US dollar. So even in a year and a half, or, let's say, 2 years, in 2 years, the currency has nearly doubled from 8.5 to 15.5 within 2 years. So Guineas are worse off today than what they were even when none other was president two years ago, let alone 2017, when the dollar was 4.2, when the city was 4.2 to a dollar. So Ghanaians are much, much worse off today, 2024, than they were in 2017. So in a short space of time, 7 years, ghanaians have seen the value of this currency basically skyrocket.

Speaker 1: 14:42

You can say, in essence, right, the city is not really. You know, it's basically a worthless currency, but, like I mentioned before, ghanians themselves are politically blamed for this because, you know, there's too much globalization of the economy. So, things that school fees you want to buy a house in Ghana. You want to buy a brand new car. You want to pay for hotel accommodation. You want to pay for your child's school fees, particularly so called international schools yeah, you want to, you know, hire a hotel room, particularly in some of these four five-star hotels. They all are paid for in US dollars. So this mentality that Ghanaians have, whereby they want to charge key things in US dollars, that is also having a massive impact on the currency, because people have to buy dollars with their city to pay for school fees, to buy a car, to buy a house, to rent a property, particularly enough for the area, to rent a hotel room, you know, particularly for, you know, special occasions in christmas or whatever. And so this, you know, dollarization in certain aspects of the Ghanaian economy is also why the Ghana city has depreciated against the dollar, you know, particularly in the last two years.

Speaker 1: 16:11

Yeah, and the government have not done really anything to anything concrete to ensure that the city is stable. All All that they've done, yeah, is actually have a policy of buying US dollars. So they borrow money right. So, while they borrow money to invest in infrastructure, they've borrowed money to buy US dollars in order to prop up the city. So that has been an artificial way of how the city was stabilised between 2017 and about 2018, 2019. And since 2019, particularly in the last two years the city has just exploded because that policy has not worked and government has not been able to find a robust strategic strategy in order to uh, keep that or make the ghana city a more stronger and therefore more stable currency and and like I said before, one of my recommendations would be that Ghana gets gold reserves. Ghana is the biggest producer of gold in Africa, but yet does not have that much gold reserves, and so if Ghana wants to prop up its currency and make the city strong against external shocks and also against the major currencies like the pound, the US dollar, the euro, then Ghana must. It must have gold reserves that it can use to pump up the currency in times like what we are living now.

Speaker 1: 17:54

Again, if you look at the economy and again this is something I mentioned last week in the part 2 of the legacy the cost of living crisis, so the economy in Ghana has got to that level now that there is a rampant cost of living crisis in Ghana. You know rents have doubled in the last 2 years. Food has tripled, quadrupled, in the last 2 years. Transportation costs has gone by at least 200% in the last two years. Transportation costs has gone up by at least 200% in the last three to four years, and I could go on and on and on, and this is the profound effect on the quality of life for many Ghanaians and this is also hampering any recovery that Ghana was to have after COVID.

Speaker 1: 18:44

Again, we look at interest rates in Ghana. Interest rates in Ghana are the highest in the content. Just do a quick Google search. Don't even listen to this podcast, don't believe what I'm saying. Go and do a quick Google search ie interest rates in Africa and you will see by far that Ghana has the highest rates of interest on the continent. Right now in Ghana, interest rates are about approaching 40%, roughly where they were when this government first came in. But this government said that they would actually reduce interest rates. That will make borrowing more easier. In actual fact, you know, interest rates in Ghana are very high 40%. So if a business wants to go and borrow money or an individual wants to go and borrow money, they're going to have to pay upwards of 40% in order to secure that loan. Now what business are you going to conduct that will give you a return of 40% that you would need to pay that loan? This is a situation that many Guyanese businesses find themselves in, and even some of the big boys, and even on that as a butcher to say how the economy is doing, how bad it's doing.

Speaker 1: 20:13

Recently, I did a podcast telling you about some of the big companies that have left Ghana Big, dark and lovely. You know SSB Bank and many, many other big mortgage companies have left Ghana in the last year and a half. Because of these. You know the cost of doing business and the cost of business in Ghana. So, for example, rent yeah, business rates are very, very high in Ghana. Activate your electricity. And again, because of Dumsor again, you know Dumsor will be in part two of the legacy of Nana Akufado yeah, high electricity tariffs has compelled many businesses to leave Ghana. And also, on that electricity, again, many businesses are folded because of the high tariffs of utility, particularly electricity, that have been charged in Ghana.

Speaker 1: 21:12

And again, in part two, I'll talk about the power crisis that has affected Ghana, particularly since December last year, another bad legacy of the presence of Ghana. And so, when we look at the economy, the economy is in a very, very bad way and this is the you know Ghanaians are living through right now. Ghanaians, it doesn't matter whether you're MPP, ndc, cpp, pnc, butterfly Movement, you know Cheddar Man's Movement, right, every guy needs to be in the pinch. In actual fact, this is the worst economy in the last 40 years, and definitely in this fourth republic. That was actually in January 1923. 1992, rather, this is the worst in the set of economic figures that this country, ghana, by the current flag bearer, mahmoodou Babia. And so you know, the economy is a legacy which is going to haunt this particular government.

Speaker 1: 22:38

Now we look at jobs haunt this particular government. Now we look at jobs. Again, this government came into power on the promise of creating jobs. So, again, another mantra of the government was that we'll create jobs, because under the last NDC government, not the main jobs were created, even though you had JIDA, you had a lot of youth empowerment programs, et cetera, et cetera. You know there still were not that many jobs out there. And so this government came in in 2017, promising Guineans a golden age of employment.

Speaker 1: 23:13

The reality, despite many, many numerous initiatives like the NACOB, which is like a youth programme aimed at the youth, to give youth in Ghana employment skills, despite that, despite things like planting food and jobs, despite the national service, despite a number of initiatives aimed at, you know, creating jobs in Ghana, that these initiatives unfortunately have not worked. And this is why today in Ghana, there is mass unemployment. Yeah, and this is why a lot of youth, particularly in the last three or four years, have left Ghana because there's no work in Ghana and, as I mentioned before in one of my podcasts, why Ghanaian youth are leaving Ghana Jobs, jobs, jobs. Lack of jobs is the key reason why many Ghanaian youth are leaving Ghana, because there's no job in Ghana. Unless your father is well-heeled, unless your mother is well-connected, unless you can get those connections in Ghana, it doesn't matter how brilliant you are, you will never get a job in Ghana. And so many of our youth, because they haven't got contacts or connections, their mum or dad haven't got these connections, many of our youth seen their future, seen their hope in Ghana and this is why, over the last three, four years, a lot of Ghanaians, particularly Ghanaian youth under 35 have left Ghana, come to, you know, north America, come to Europe, places like the UK, etc.

Speaker 1: 24:58

A lot of Ghanaians have migrated in the last three or four years and this is a direct result of the fact that the job creation as touted by Nana Akufoado has basically failed to yield fruit. Yeah, because unemployment is a ticking time bomb in Ghana. That is stubbornly high and you know, know, despite all the noises, despite all the initiatives, you know, this government has failed when it comes to creating jobs. Yeah, and a lot of youth in Ghana have even started their own jobs because of the of the dire, dire, you know unemployment, high unemployment in Ghana. And so, when we look at jobs per se, the government of Nana Ado Akufo Ado has failed miserably, you know, when it comes to creating long-term, meaningful, career-orientated, career-designate jobs whereby Ghanaian youth will see no need, long-term, meaningful, career-orientated, career-designate jobs whereby Ghanaian youth will see no need to leave Ghana and come to Europe and North America. So the collective failure of the government of Nana Akufo-Addo to create the enabling environment, both within the public sector and private sector, to create those jobs, both within the public sector and private sector, yeah, to create those jobs has been an anathema to the governance of the current president. When it comes to jobs, we move on to governance.

Speaker 1: 26:32

You know, again, the governance, the governance of this Nana Akufo-Addo government has been very, very, you know, unsavoury. I'll give you two examples. You know, because of the dire nature of the economy that I've just mentioned and other social, macroeconomic indices, many Ghanaian journalists, you know, the famous one being Captain Smart, have taught openly about the difficulties that Ghanaians are facing and how unbearable in some quarters, life is for the older Ghanaian. And so, because they've said this, a number of Ghanaian journalists have been put in prison or have been silenced by this government. Because they dare to speak truth to power, they dare speak their mind. Yeah, and that's not good government Government. Good government is allowing free speech. Yeah, as long as that speech is not insulting, as long as that, you know, speech is not hateful speech. Yeah, as long as that speech is a hateful speech. Yeah, as long as that speech is a critical analysis, critical assessment of the current situation in Ghana, then there's no need to jail people just because they disagree with your policy or they disagree with the way that you've been managing the country. That's the answer. And under this Nana Akufado government, you know, intolerance is like a buzzword and so the governance, the style of governance which some say has even been autocratic, has been a damp legacy of the Nana Akufado government, again in terms of governance, you know, and again even links to this issue about corruption, because again, corruption is something that I mentioned in part 2 of the legacy of Nana Akufo-Addo. You know, corruption has been, you know, a cancer, a cancer, you know, a cancer, a cancer in this government in the last eight years and because of poor leadership, poor governments, you know, corruption has been allowed to fester, yeah, and no one's been put behind bars. But, like I said, next week I'll go into it deeper as to why corruption, you know, is a bad legacy of the current president. So corruption, you know, is a bad legacy of the current president. So you know, governance, you know, which goes hand in hand with leadership, yeah, has been very, very bad under Ocufado, even a last one of governments. This whole issue about illegal binding, and again I'll talk about that in detail, in depth, next week. You know, lack of leadership is why illegal, small-scale mining, called Ghanemse in local language, has been allowed to fester and because of that it is actually posing a threat to the very you know nature of Ghana. But again I'll go deep into that in part two of the legacy of Nana Akufo-Addo. And so governance has been a very, very you know, in Ghana and that is a legacy of this current government and of this current president.

Speaker 1: 30:00

Now you move on to agriculture. Agriculture again was another mantra that this government said it would do when it comes to power in January 2017. And Nana Akufadu, you know he made a point that do when it comes to power in January 2017. And Nanakufa Ado, he made the point that he would actually look into agriculture so that Ghana can become more food sufficient, and this is why he had a policy called planting for food and jobs.

Speaker 1: 30:29

But ask yourself, during the 7 to near 8 years of this government and its flagship, one of its flagship policies, planting for food and jobs look at the state of agriculture in Ghana. You know the policy has sold to such an extent that Ghana is importing staple foods. So foods that is easy to grow in Ghana were importing Things like onion, tomatoes, corn, millet, cassava, even yam. We are importing that from other countries. So you understand that now food has become very, very expensive in Ghana, when two, three years ago it wasn't like that. So it tells you what the policy to plant, food and jobs has turned, and turned miserably.

Speaker 1: 31:25

Yeah, because if this policy was a success, you would see tangible evidence of this. Where were the farms? Where, you know, planting foods and you know and jobs has transformed people's lives. It hasn't. There's been no transformation change in the agricultural policy of Ghana, and yet we're supposed to have an agricultural development bank, which was built by Dr Kwame Nkrumah, of which sole purpose was to provide cheap loans to Ghanaian farmers in order to help them boost their farms. So what's happened under under this government when it comes to the agricultural development bank and providing cheap loans to farmers?

Speaker 1: 32:14

Yeah, there's also been issues with seedlings, to the extent that now we hear that these seedlings, you know, can't even grow the food properly. And now, you know, some Ghanaian farmers are resorting to genetically modified seeds. Now, anyone who knows about genetically modified seeds, that is dangerous, particularly when it comes to Africa, because even in Europe, large countries of Europe, right, have banned GMOs, but yet in Ghana, they want to impose GMOs on our farmers, to say that it is the best way to guarantee food security when we use genetically modified seeds, not knowing that those genetically modified seeds will destroy the fertile nature of our soil and that will make it difficult to grow food organically, meaning that Ghana will never be food secure. And so, under this legacy of Nana Ado Akufo Ado, our food sector is struggling in Ghana. Like I said, we are importing basic foodstuff yam, tomato, onion, cassava from other countries. Yeah, to extend that now through the inflation, and that is why inflation is so high in Ghana. Again, that's another legacy of the economy.

Speaker 1: 33:37

Inflation right now in Ghana right peaked at 55% December 2022. Inflation is now 25%, which is still very high. Because when they inherited the economy January 2017, inflation was at 15.4%. Yeah, you can't blame. Inherited the economy January 2017, inflation was at 15.4%. Yeah, you can't blame. You can't blame COVID and Russia, ukraine, because, again, if you Google, look over African countries Togo next door, burkina Faso next door you know, cameroon, mali, la Côte d Cameroon, mali, la Côte d'Ivoire all these countries have inflation half of Ghana's. So Ghana's at 25%. Yeah, you know, all these countries I mentioned have inflation under 15%. So that tells you that it's not the Russian-Ukrainian war or the COVID pandemic, it is something more concerned to home. It is a mismanagement of the agricultural sector that has created food inflation.

Speaker 1: 34:44

And for me, food inflation is more than 200%. You go to market. You ask people in Ghana, when they go to market on Monday to buy yam, that yam is five cities by the end of the week, that yam is 30 Ghana cities. And you want to tell me that food inflation is 25% or 20%? No, no, if you look at the bag of rice even five kilogram bag of rice that has doubled in the last two years and look at price of tomatoes that's has doubled in the last two years, and look at price of tomatoes that's tripled in the last two years look at, look at a bag of onions that's tripled in the last two years. You look at, um, you know, maize corn that's quadrupled in the last three years.

Speaker 1: 35:31

So food inflation is very, very, very high indeed in Ghana, and this is as a result of a bad and misplaced agriculture policy that this government has implemented, not really understanding the needs of our farmers and not supplying farmers with ie subsidies that they need in order to make Ghana food sufficient. And finally, on this issue of agriculture, you know Ghana is not food secure right now because we have to import food, and that food that we're importing, particularly meat. To my view, right is not good for us and also right. We're giving money to other farmers whereby we're not, we starve the own farmers of food by not subsidizing and not supporting our own farmers. And so, and again, you know, because of this, you know, food crisis, because of the failure of the planting, food and jobs, many Ghanaians, many Ghanaians, can't afford three square meals a day simply because they can't afford to buy food in the market. You know the astronomical prices that they're charging in the market for basic foodstuffs, meaning that many Ghanaians are going without decent meal, decent free meals a day. And even, to compel this, the school feeding programme that was designed to ensure that, particularly those children who are not well off, they would have at least a decent meal in school. Even that, I've heard many reports on Joy FM and other Ghanaian news portals that even the quality of food, the quality of food that have been given to Ghanaian school children, yeah, leaves not to be desired. You wouldn't even give it to your pet cat or dog. That's how bad you know the food is. The quality of food is for our children going to, you know, basic school and senior high school. So this all compels, yeah, that the government's agriculture policy has failed, and failed miserably. When our children can't even get decent food to eat in school, that shows you how bad this government's policy of agriculture has been.

Speaker 1: 38:02

And now the last subject for part one is corruption. So we are looking at corruption. So we've looked at the economy, looked at jobs at the economy, look at jobs, look at governance and our culture. Now we're going to wrap up part one of the legacy of Nana Akufo-Addo. Looking back corruption. He made a point again, you know, during 2016 election, that under Mohammed, corruption was at epic proportions and that when he come, no, you know corruption will find no place in his government and that if you want to be rich, then don't become, don't be part of my government. But corruption under Nanaq al-Faido has, you know, increased a hundredfold. It even makes Mohammed's corruption like small fry.

Speaker 1: 38:59

The corruption under Nana Addo government has been huge and I can give you many, many examples, but I'll just put two examples the Syria Dapa affair, yeah, whereby you know her maid stole, more, stole 101 million US dollars from her property and apparently, during the investigation, you know there was something about a few hundred thousand euros and about 48 million Ghana cities, right, which is about a few million US dollars, stashed her property. Now, if that's not corruption, I don't know what is, because you see, the party is the Minister of State or one Minister of State. What money is she earning from being the Minister of State? You know, whether perks or not the perks. What money is she earning to enable her to stash that amount of money in her house? Because she knows that if she went to a bank to put that money, the bank would be asking questions like Madame, where's the source of this income? And because you know there's something fishy going on, she may not be able to account for those sums of money, so that money is being stored in her house. Her maid stole some of the money from her, and so corruption in Ghana.

Speaker 1: 40:24

That's an example of ministerial that is the one former small family minister. This is not the finance minister. This is not chief of staff. This is not the finance minister. This is not Chief of staff. This is not, you know, minister of tourism, minister of agriculture. This is a small time minister, yeah, who was caught with this money. Just imagine what other monies are being stolen, yeah, by other people. And as a result of stolen money, you're not able to wash it out. The only way you can wash out stolen money is by not putting it in the bank but to build property, and so there's been a property boom over the last 4-5 years in Ghana because of this allegedly stolen money that has been washed away by politicians into the real estate sector.

Speaker 1: 41:19

Yeah, and you know talk about corruption in Ghana. You know even the special prosecutor whose job it is, kisi Adjibing, whose job it is to, you know, investigate corrupt activities. He himself has been targeted by the office of the presidency for the work he's doing. So this shows you that the fight against corruption has been very, very poor under this government, to the extent that there's a nickname for the president that he's a clearing agent for corruption. That's not my saying. That is saying that's going around within circles of Ghana, be it the NDC, opposition or other circles within government, that this president has been a current agent for corruption, telling you that under his watch, corruption has reached some gigantic proportions. So you know the president has failed to tackle corruption to the extent that nobody, nobody, has been brought to book for their corrupt activities, let alone you know first any jail term, let alone you know be, you know, gone under investigation for corrupt activities. So this government has shown, you know, lack of political will to actually root out corruption, and corruption has thrived under this government. So that brings the legacy of Nana Ado Kufu Ado.

Speaker 1: 43:10

Part one to an end. We'll go in depth in part two. Look at some of the issues like Dumbusa, looking about Garamse, looking about the domestic debt and external debt exchange programmes, how those are going to, you know, have a massive impact on the country in the next few years. We'll delve more into that in part two, looking at the legacy of Nana Akufo-Addo. And so, if you've enjoyed this special edition of Ghana in Focus, please share to your friends, your family, social media networks, please subscribe to Ghana Africa in Focus on YouTube and also on Spotify and, like I said, please donate to the show to help us continue our great work bringing you fantastic content from Ghana and also from the African content. All right, so from myself, kwame, and from all the crew here on Ghana In Focus, it's thank you very much for listening and we'll see you next week for part two of the Legacy of Nana Akufo-Addo.