Pius Hadzide
Pius Hadzide, a Deputy Minister of Information, has described former President Mahama’s recent attacks on the Akufo-Addo-led government as “ill-informed and uneducated”.
In a digital conversation on his Facebook last week, Mr Mahama claimed the country’s economy is currently on “ventilators”, following the ravaging impact of the coronavirus, saying the economic performance of the Akufo-Addo government had been over-hyped.
But Mr Hadzide, in an interview with the Daily Statesman, said the former President comes across as somebody who does not have an idea of what is even happening globally.
“That claim that Ghana is in shambles is ill-informed and uneducated. Mr Mahama has no knowledge of what is happening across the world,” the Deputy Minister said.
He charged the former President to check with all the financial institutions to have a fair knowledge on how most of the world economies are battling with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Covid-19 has done damage to economies all over the world, with some going to depression. The likes of United Kingdom and the US are no exception. The former President should go and read what the likes of the World Bank and the IMF have said about how most economies will be affected by Covid-19,” he said.
Mr Hadzide further stated that the former President should be the last person to criticise the present administration, having plunged the nation’s economy into a ditch during his tenure. “Mr Mahama fails to recognise that his record is the poorest ever,” he added.
Attention seeker
With regards to Mr Mahama’s request on the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to release money to contributors to ease the COVID-19-induced hardship they may be facing, Mr Hadzide said the request demonstrates the former President’s lack of understanding of matters that border on legalities.
“He further embarrassed himself by the SSNIT matter. It is an invitation to engage in an illegality and his misinformation on the Pensioners Act. I have heard people say we should consider constitutional amendment, but that depends on a tripartite action and not only on the government,” he explained.
“What was he doing during his tenure as President if he fails to understand the work of SSNIT?” he asked.
President focused
The Deputy Information Minister said the media engagement by Mr Mahama was to catch attention “and remain relevant in the scheme of things because of the massive applause President Akufo-Addo was receiving from ECOWAS and the world over in his handling of the covid-19.”
“NUGS recently commended him and labelled him as a global icon. The TUC also endorsed his policies. Few days earlier, media practitioners also approved his various interventions in the Covid-19 fight. People see the President leading from the front and taking pragmatic steps in combating covid-19.”
“Knowing that he (Mahama) was not getting such attention, he decides to form his own Covid-19 team. He goes ahead to share food but fails to honour the President’s invitation when other political parties’ leaders were called to jaw-jaw on how best to fight the pandemic,” he said.
