Dr. Kingsley Nyarko
Ghanaians have been urged to have faith in the New Patriotic Party government, with the assurance that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will never mislead the country.
The assurance was given by Dr Kingsley Nyarko, Member of Parliament for Kwadaso, during a media interview in reaction to criticisms from the Minority in Parliament against the 2021 Budget Statement and Economic Policy.
According to him, Ghanaians should support and commend the Akufo-Addo led government for taking such a bold decision to tell the people of Ghana the truth.
He said the NPP government would continue to initiate and implement good policies that would benefit the people and make the country a better place to live.
“The government, led by President Akufo-Addo, needs to be commended for taking steps to ensure a five per cent growth of the economy, despite the numerous economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he stated.
“The NPP government took over the administration of this country after it was destroyed by the NDC government, but despite all the economic implications, the NPP government has been able to put the country back on track,” he added.
Good policies
Dr Nyarko said the government made good policies during the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic to curb the spread of the virus among Ghanaians.
He added that the government was able to provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to the citizenry, the education and health sectors and other public institutions, and also provided the Ghanaian public with free water and electricity.
“The government provided PPEs to Ghanaians, the education, health sectors and other public institutions during the rise of the pandemic, also free water and electricity which were good policies. I will boldly say that President Akufo-Addo’s government will never mislead Ghanaians,” he said.
Dr Nyarko asked Ghanaians to rally behind the government to provide the country with good policies to better the lives of the citizens.
Minority
The Minority in Parliament accused the government of hiding the correct budget deficit in the 2021 budget statement.
The NDC MPs in a statement issued by its leader, Haruna Iddrisu, said the “mismanagement and uncontrolled expenditure and sheer lack of prudence accounted for the poor performance of the economy and not just COVID-19.”
“For the 2019 fiscal year, the government reported a fiscal deficit of 4.8% of GDP while at the same time, as confirmed by the IMF in their April 2020 staff report, a fiscal deficit of 7.5% of GDP. Fiscal deficit for the year 2020 of 13.8% of GDP, as stated by the Ministry of Finance, excludes an amount of GH¢6.2 billion being what the government refers to as energy sector payments.
“We demand the inclusion of the energy sector payments of GH¢6.2 billion in the fiscal tables to reflect in the corresponding fiscal deficit,” Haruna Iddrisu said.
