Former Deputy Finance Minister and Obuasi West MP, Kwaku Kwarteng, has conceded that the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) major failure while in government was its tendency to spend heavily without first implementing the reforms required to generate sustainable revenue.
He said the party pursued ambitious expenditure programmes without putting in place the structural changes needed to support them financially, a lapse he described as the administration’s biggest error.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Thursday, January 8, Mr Kwarteng acknowledged that the NPP inherited a fragile economy in 2017, one already under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, which should have called for caution and fiscal discipline.
However, he noted that the government went on to roll out numerous interventions without sufficient revenue to back them, a path he said inevitably led to the current economic challenges.
Mr Kwarteng rejected the view that Ghana’s economic difficulties were caused mainly by the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing instead that they stem from decades of poor economic management and a culture of spending beyond the country’s means — a pattern he admitted the NPP failed to reverse.
He explained that weak economic fundamentals made Ghana more vulnerable when COVID-19 struck, noting that countries with stronger foundations were better able to withstand the shock.
The former deputy minister urged the current administration to take a decisive break from past practices, warning against continued reliance on borrowing to finance expenditure.
He called for honest national conversations and bold political and economic reforms to secure Ghana’s long-term future, but expressed disappointment at what he described as a lack of decisive action so far.
Citing wasteful spending, including high travel and conference costs despite unpaid utility bills at Parliament, Mr Kwarteng cautioned that the present government risks repeating the same mistakes made by previous administrations, including the early years of the first Mahama government.
He concluded by noting that while recent economic stability deserves acknowledgment, the underlying structural weaknesses remain unaddressed, warning that without bold reforms, Ghana could once again slide into crisis.
