Cut the waste in your govt, tackle corruption – Sammy Gyamfi tells Akufo-Addo

The first step that should be taken by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in tackling the economic challenges is to cut the waste in his government, the National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Sammy Gyamfi has said.

He referred to the National Cathedral project as one of the wasteful expenditures of the government that should be stopped.

Speaking on the Big Issue on TV3 Wednesday, March 22, Sammy Gyamfi said “Mr President cut down on the waste, the waste in your government is too much.

“They told us two years ago that they were going to cut expenditures yet we see an increase in waste.

“The government is wasting the public purse on a needless National Cathedral. Do we need a national cathedral in the midst of this economic crisis?”

“Cut down on the bloated size of the government and we can make huge savings,” he added.

The other step that should be taken by the government is to eschew corruption and punish persons involved in corrupt practices, Sammy Gyamfi further said.

He stressed “eschew corruption and punish those who are involved in corruption.”

Sammy Gyamfi further accused Akufo-Addo of dishonesty.

He said the assertion by President Akufo-Addo that the economy was doing well prior to the Covid outbreak cannot be true.

In his view, the economy showed signs of weakness even before the pandemic.

“Was President Akufo-Addo not the one who said we will not go to the IMF? Was it not a scam? Was he not the one who said there would be no haircut? Was it not a scam? Are they not the people who said they had abolished road tolls so that Ghanaians will accept the e-levy? Was that not a scam?

“These are people who are allergic to the truth. Before Covid, the government was already spending recklessly. Before Covid what did the government have to show for the borrowing? Before covid, the economy was nothing t wrote home about.”

President Akufo-Addo reiterated his point that Ghana’s economy was doing well prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war when he delivered the state of the nation address (SONA) on Wednesday, March 8.

This, he said, is a fact that the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recognised.

Mr Akufo-Addo indicated that due to political advantage some people are seeking to take, they are unable to accept the fact that the economy was doing well.

He said “I have said, and the Managing Director of the IMF has also said, our economy was doing well until covid 19, and Russia Ukraine war.”