Speaking at the 65th Independence Day Lecture at Accra, Ghana’s longest serving and former finance minister; Prof. Kwesi Botchwey revealed that, he was told to beware of criticize the NPP government as they are certain to take revenge and subsequently come after him.
The former finance minister who during the lecture stated the President has himself not resorted to the advice he sent out to Ghanaians during his inaugural ceremony. The message was “to be citizens and not spectators”. “Or whether these friends had, perhaps, missed His Excellency the President’s exaltation to us in his inaugural address in 2017 to be citizens, not spectators, which exaltation I was sure he meant in earnest,” he noted.
According to him, the Akuffo-Addo government has lost its part as Ghana is seriously in economic hardships. Prof Botchwey said: “We are no longer seen as creditworthy. Our policies are no longer seen as credible in the face of the investor community.”
According to him, “the exchange rate at the forex bureaus is nearing GHS8 to the dollar. Fuel prices at the filling stations have crossed the GHS8 per litre bar. Inflation is back in double-digits nearing about 15 percent.”
It was in the Professor’s speech that he indicated he had been warned against the vindictiveness of this current government.
‘”These people are vindictive and they’ll come after you if you criticize them’, they said, I was quite dismayed and wondered if this was truly reflective of the public sentiment in our time”, Professor Botchwey added.
