Prez Mahama ‘playing with truth’ on Ghana’s debt situation – Kabiru

Dr Mahama Tiah Abdul-Kabiru, Member of Parliament (MP) for Walewale has criticised the State of the Nation Address presented by the president, claiming it did not present anything new to the Ghanaian people.

Presenting his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of his second term to Parliament in Accra on Thursday, February 27, President John Dramani Mahama painted a grim picture of the country’s finances, pointing to unsustainable debt levels and mismanagement of key state institutions.

Mahama disclosed that Ghana’s public debt has soared to GHS721 billion, placing immense pressure on the country’s economy. He further highlighted the dire financial condition of major state-owned enterprises, including the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), both of which are struggling under heavy debt burdens.

But speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday, Dr Abdul-Kabiru emphasised that the country’s debt situation has been a long-standing issue, and the president’s address merely repackaged old information.

Dr Abdul-Kabiru recalled that the country sought assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due to debt stress, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of about 80% at the time.

He noted that this ratio has since decreased to around 70-72%, thanks to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) and foreign restructuring efforts.

According to him, the debt situation is not new, and the president’s portrayal of it as more dire than before is misleading.

He further argued that the debt levels have improved following the painful process of debt restructuring, and the president’s address should have acknowledged this progress instead of creating a sense of heightened crisis.

Dr Abdul-Kabiru therefore accused the president of playing with the truth and urged the government to be more transparent about the country’s financial situation.

“The State of the Nation Address presented by the president did not present anything new that the Ghanaian people haven’t been presented with. You recall that it is on the back of the debt stress that the country went for the IMF programme. As at then we were doing debt to GDP of 80%. That has even come down now to 72% or 70% thereabout. So the numbers as to the debt situation is not something new.

“If the president is telling the good people of Ghana that as at the time we were doing the IMF negotiation and the debt issue was at the centre of this whole discussion his team were not following that discussion that will be pardoned but debt and debt stress has never been an issue that is new to the country.

“As a matter of fact our debt levels have come down following the DDEP and foreign restructuring programme where the country had to go through a painful processes of debt restructuring. So it is not anything new and if it is now being brought and repacked as if that the situation is even more dire than before. That is playing with the truth,” the Walewale MP said.